


Coincidental Curiosity

by g00dproblemstohave



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Manga & Anime, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Shingeki no Kyojin: Kuinaki Sentaku | Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Shingeki no Kyojin: Kuinaki Sentaku | Attack on Titan: No Regrets Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-05 09:50:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 62,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11010984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g00dproblemstohave/pseuds/g00dproblemstohave
Summary: There are some things in life you just can't do with another person without creating an unbreakable bond. ©2017





	1. Low Ceiling

Suffocation. Overbearing tightness. Strangulation. Nicolette could feel her chest constrict as she sat on the crate beside her parents’ bed. Her small feet couldn’t even reach the floor; they swung idly back and forth while her hands folded themselves in the edge of the sheets. The room was dark and musty, light casting shadows and catching the dust particles in the air. Nicolette hated seeing them float around. It made her eye twitch. Her hands fidgeted in a tight ball, squeezing and pulling on a small corner of the fabric.

“Ni-Nicolette…” the little girl flinched, quickly looking into her mother’s face. “W-Water.” Obediently, she hopped off the crate and walked a few steps over to their kitchen, which was really the extended bedroom. In reality, there were no rooms, as it was just one space with everything they owned inside.

Nicolette filled a ladle with water from the well bucket and brought it back over to her mother. She watched helplessly, holding the ladle with two hands, while her mother struggled to sit up, using the still form of her husband beside her to push herself against the wall. Out of breath and covered in sweat, the old woman smiled faintly down at her daughter. Nicolette held up the ladle, staring up with wide hazel eyes. With shaking hands and a tender glance, her mother took the ladle from her.

“Thank you…” she rasped, sipping the water slowly. Nicolette did not want to ask why her father wasn’t moving, or why his entire body looked as though a feather could break it. She did not want to ask why her mother could not stand, let alone sit up. Nicolette did not even ask why she was not allowed to leave the house anymore. Nicolette sat on the crate all day long, only getting up when her parents asked for something.

She took the ladle back and returned it to its spot in the ‘kitchen’. When she returned to her spot on the crate, she looked up at her mother, waiting for her to ask for something else. There was silence in the musty room for some time, the only noise coming from the strangled breathing of Nicolette’s mother. The old women opened her eyes briefly, the effort seeming colossal.

“Nicolette…”

The young girl perked immediately, reading to hop off the crate once more.

“Promise me… you will survive.”

Several beats passed before she continued.

“You must survive. You have to get out of this city, Nicolette… You must get citizenship on the surface… You have to find a life, a good life. Promise me you will go on and become someone,” her voice cracked, but Nicolette did not know if it was out of desperation or pain. A hacking fit followed, violently jerking her mother’s body until it quivered in agonizing pain.

“Promise me, Nicolette…”

While the little girl did not quite understand what she was promising when she said “I promise,” she did know that all she wanted was to make her mother happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five days. Five days passed. Nicolette sat on the crate, her legs indented from the wood panels. She was incredibly frail and thin, her eyes sunken back into her head. Food had run out in her small home, but she still did not want to go outside. It had been two days since that. She did not want to go outside. The bodies of her parents were still on the bed, lying there with an eerie sense of peacefulness. Nicolette was blind to the stench of disease.

Her stomach growled aggressively, panging at her stomach with force that she had begun to get used to. Normal sounds came from outside: carts rolling over the uneven stones, children running around haphazardly, and the occasional scolding from an adult. Nicolette couldn’t help but overhear the laughter coming from the other kids. She wanted to join in.

Hopping off the crate in an awkward jerk, she walked over to the door. Her little feet slapped on the rocky floor, echoing in the emptiness of her house. Her stomach growled again. Before opening the door, her hand rests on top of the handle. It had been more than a week since she’d stepped outside, but in her short life that seemed like a month. Her free hand nervously folded itself into the auburn curls around her cheek, tugging on then until she felt as if she might yank them out. With a quick sigh, Nicolette opened the door.

It was much brighter out in the streets than in her home, yet she could feel the lackluster light barely grazing her skin. For as long as she lived, her family resided in the Underground City beneath Mitras, the capital city of Wall Sina. It was dirty, cold, and unmanaged. Nothing had order. Nothing had a place. Everyone was tossed about like an old book no one wanted.

Nicolette closed the door behind her, making a note of what was in front of her. Several children chased each other holding sticks in each hand, making bizarre whirring noises with their mouths and trying to smack each other on the backs of their necks. “Stupid titan! This is what you get for messing with me!” one child smacked another directly in the face, causing blood to drip from his nose. He immediately started crying.

“Ow! Julian! Why’d you do that?” the smaller kid dropped his sticks, holding his hands to his face as tears welled up in his eyes.

Julian looked at a loss for words and shrugged. “Sorry. Don’t be such a baby.” Nicolette couldn’t look away. She wondered why the other four children hadn’t stopped playing to check on their friend. Maybe they weren’t really friends. Julian looked over and made eye-contact with Nicolette. “What’re you looking at?” he sneered at her.

Despite having just witnessed him smack a kid in the face with two sticks, she did not feel at all threatened by the boy. It could be the fact his voice isn’t steady when he speaks, or maybe the fact that she didn’t quite care, but she didn’t break eye-contact.

“Aren’t you gonna say something?” Julian was becoming visibly creeped out by the silent, scrawny girl who had yet to blink at him. The smaller kid wiped blood onto the back of his own hand, standing back up.

“Maybe she’s thinking about beating you up.” Sarcasm was evident in his tone, but Nicolette couldn’t help but notice the tinge of hopefulness at the thought.

“Ha! I’d like to see the twig try!” he took a step towards her, holding his two sticks out like fake swords. “Come on then! Try and beat me!”

“I don’t feel like it,” she mumbled, her throat a bit sore. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized she hadn’t spoken since she made her promise.

Julian raised an eyebrow and smirked. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

Nicolette thought for a second. She could get into an unnecessary fight, probably lose, then go find food in pain, or she could just walk away and not say anything else, then go find food while not in pain. For some reason, one seemed more preferable than the other.

She sighed quietly, then turned around and started walking. “Twig! Where are you going!?” It was not surprising that he didn’t try to follow her, but she tried to stay alert as she walked past the adults into the market. Her bare feet continued to slap on the rocks, her callouses saving her from certain cuts.

The stalls around her were filled with low-quality goods, some edible and some not. She padded along, her big eyes barely able to see around the older, much taller people. Nicolette did not believe she was short, everyone else was just excessively large.

“Fresh fruit! Get your fresh fruit! Finest in the Underground, brought directly from the surface!” At the mention of food not grown in a grotesque dirt stack, Nicolette perked up. She moved over to the stall, her tiny hands holding onto the edge so people couldn’t whisk her away.

She pointed to an apple, “How much?” At this point, she realized a flaw. She had no money. The merchant wasn’t slow to pick that up either.

“Too much for you, pipsqueak. Keep moving.”

The little girl chewed on her bottom lip, one of her hands gripping her curls. “Please? It’s just one! I’m sure someone else will buy it!” He laughed at her heartily, the embarrassed flush in her cheeks only increasing his amusement.

“Listen to me very closely, brat. No.”

Nicolette gnawed on her lip some more, her stomach clawing through her. Without wasting another second, she snatched an apple off the stand and started running for all she was worth.

“You little thug! Get back here, you little-, “his voice faded away before she could hear the end, but it wasn’t hard to fill in the pieces. She didn’t quite know where she was going or exactly how far she had to run, but she couldn’t help but smile down at the shiny red apple in her hand. Her rapid steps began to slow down, her little feet slapping once more.

“What’s with you?” a deep voice called from behind her.

“Aah!” she jumped, a mild squeak of fear popping out of her. The man laughed, but this time it wasn’t as much out of mockery. This laugh made her scared. She felt afraid.

“What’s the problem, little girl? Don’t you know this isn’t the safe part of town?” after a moment of thought, he added, “not that there really is one anyway.”

“S-Sorry…” she mumbled again, holding the apple with both hands to her chest as she tried to back away. Her pale hands turned a brighter shade of white as they clamped onto the fruit. Panic rose in her chest as her back collided with a solid wall. The man came closer.

“Well, I find it a little hard to accept your apology. You could, maybe, make it a little more convincing?” He came closer to her, squatting down to her level. Nicolette could smell fish on his jacket. She hated fish. “What? Nothing?” She didn’t move, and his face hardened. The man began to reach for her. Nicolette squeezed her eyes tight, the apple molding to the force of her grip.

Before he touched her, a soft clank was heard. She opened her eyes and the man turned around. A small pouch of coins lay in the middle of the alleyway. Nicolette’s breaths became shakier as she looked around for who dropped it. No one. No one was there. “What in the hell…” as the man started to reach for it, Nicolette took her chance. For the second time that day, she dropped into a dead sprint. As she turned out of the alley, she made eye-contact with another scrawny child, a boy with shaggy black hair.


	2. Two Wrongs Make a Right

Lungs heaving, Nicolette skidded to a stop several streets down, the apple still close to her chest. Sweat beaded on her forehead, dripping down into her small eyebrows. She slowly slid against the wall to sit down on the cold stone floor, ready to just go home and sit by her parents in peaceful, unbothered silence. Her eyes shut for a brief moment, her chest still rising and falling with deep breaths. When she opened them, Nicolette was very, very surprised by two black eyes looking back at her from several feet away. The features on her face scrunched up in shock, subconsciously clenching the bruised apple.

“Why were you in that alley?” his voice was small, like hers. It had an unhealthy rasp to it, as if it hadn’t been used for a while, like hers. His face had expression, but she could see his eyes were hollow, as if he’d want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and hide from the world, like her.

Nicolette raised an eyebrow. “Why were you in that alley?”

He kept a blank face and shrugged. “It’s a short cut from my house to the market. I was going to get some food.”

“Some food?”

“No, I just lied to your face for no other reason than to hear you repeat the exact words I just said back to me.”

A few beats of silence passed as the two stared at each other. Nicolette then started to giggle. The boy looked a bit uncomfortable. “You’re funny.”

He shrugged again, a small smile pulling the corners of his lips.

“So… you did throw the coins?”

He nodded.

“But wasn’t that for your food?”

Another shrug. “It was my uncle’s.”

She bit her lip before asking anything else. Her hands rolled the apple back and forth between her palms.

“Plus, it looked like you needed it more than I did,” he shrugged shyly, sitting down against the opposite wall of the alley.

Nicolette tilted her head at him curiously. “Why do you shrug so much?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?” his tone was far from bitter, almost amused.

She smiled. “Just curious.” Another few beats passed and the two didn’t say anything. Nicolette stared down at the apple in her hand, noticing every scratch and bruise she had inflicted upon it in the short time she’d had it. “Do you want the coins back?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Do you want them back?” Nicolette sat cross legged, her long skirt easily pooling over her lap on the filthy dirt floor. It was only then that she noticed the boy was sitting on top of his hands.

For the billionth time, he shrugged. “I don’t know how you plan on getting them back. But it’ll be okay. My uncle won’t be too mad…”

The way he trailed off did not reassure her one bit. She grinned and took an aggressive bite out of her apple. A spark of mischief began to kindle in her chest, lighting up her cold eyes. “Let’s go get them.”

 

~~~~~~~~

The two children walked side by side down the roads of the Underground, brushing by people without being noticed. “You know, at first I thought you needed a haircut, but all your scraggly hair helps you blend in with the poor kids,” Nicolette joked, retracing her steps from earlier.

“Your ratty mess doesn’t hurt either,” he retorted, shooting her a quick smirk. She snickered, her hands tugging on pieces of her hair. “Why do you do that?”

She knocked into someone as she looked over at him, moving slightly off course before catching up. “Do what?”

“Pull on your hair.”

She became conscious of it, untangling her fingers from her dirty curls. The mixed blonde color had turned a dusty grey with all the abuse it had taken in the past days. “I don’t know. Nervous habit, I guess.”

“Cut it out. That’s how you go bald.”

She snickered. “At least I’d look pretty bald. You’d look like an egg with a big nose!”

He nudged her with his shoulder, laughing. “My nose isn’t big!”

“Are you kidding!? It’s the size of a titan’s!” In reality, Nicolette didn’t really think his nose was big. She thought it was actually a very good size, fitting the proportions of his face quite well. She was knocked out of her humorous state as they came to the entrance of the dangerous alleyway: the one of her ‘attacker’.

“This is the one, right?” he asked, lowering his voice. There was a significantly smaller amount of people walking on the streets outside the confined pathway, leaving the eeriness to fester in their minds.

“This is the one…” her high-pitched voice bounced off the stone walls blocking in the alley. “Wait here. I’ll either come back out with the coins or call for help.”

“You know… I’m not sure this plan is-“

“Part of the fun is improvising.”

“That’s how you get killed.”

“Quite the contrary,” she mumbled, already stepping in lightly. Her bare feet made no sound as they switched from the cracked cobblestone to the dirt, her eyes skipping back and forth. There were still footprints from where she had run off and from where the man had been advancing towards her. She noticed the small indent on the ground from the coin pouch, but realized it obviously was not there.

“Tch. That would’ve made this easier,” Nicolette mumbled half-heartedly. She walked over to the indent, kneeling down to determine where they stepped next. While Nicolette was no tracker, it wasn’t hard to see the change in direction of the footsteps, leading further back into the alleyway.

As she went further in, the boy stayed in the opening of the alley, watching to see if anyone was coming. Several times, a few members of the military police passed by, mistaking him for a homeless child begging for money. One actually threw a coin at him. His nose twitched with distaste, but that didn’t stop him from tucking the coin in his pocket.

Nicolette’s eyes began adjusting to the darker setting as the alley led further and further back, the lighting growing dim and ominous. The dirt underneath her feet started feeling even dirtier, if that’s even possible. She stopped looking for more footsteps at this point and began trying to figure out where exactly she was.

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on her shoulder from behind. Nicolette squeaked, whirling around and coming face to face with a middle-aged woman in an all-too-revealing outfit.

“You’re a little young to be down here, aren’t ya, doll?” the woman sounded as though she’d had twenty full bottles of booze while suffering through a cold. By the state of her jutting bones and wrinkled skin, it wouldn’t surprise her.

Nicolette didn’t immediately respond, trying to figure out if she should call for the boy’s help.

“Don’t ya talk?” the woman questioned her again. “Are we just gonna sit here and stare at each other?”

“Who are you?” Nicolette replied, taking a miniscule step backwards.

“The name’s Marlene,” she replied with a chip-toothed smile.

“That’s a weird name.” The comment escaped her mouth before she could regret it, but oh did she after she said it.

To her luck, Marlene laughed. “I guess. I was named after my hometown.”

“Hometown? You mean, you’re a surface citizen?”

Marlene pursed her lips. “I guess you could say that.”

Nicolette’s hazel eyes grew big as saucers, and she took a step towards the woman. “What’s it like?”

An eyebrow raised. “What’s what like?”

Like it was the most obvious thing in the world, she elaborated, “the surface! What’s it like?”

“Overrated.” Marlene’s tone was now bitter, and the way her voice turned crisp and serious gave Nicolette the hint to stop asking questions. “So why were you down here anyway? Not really a place for little girls.”

“Oh… I was trying to help my friend get his coins back. Long story, but he threw them to distract a guy who was… bothering me.”

Marlene’s eyes looked sympathetic. She felt emotions for the small girl, but she wasn’t sure what they were yet. She couldn’t have been older than 10 and she dealt with sleazy men. Typical Underground. “What did he look like?”

“Fat. Gross. Dirty.”

“So just about every local man living down here?”

Nicolette rolled her eyes. “He had a weird haircut. The bottom of it was shaved but the top was still long, like some of the Military Police.”

“More like the Military Wannabes,” the older woman retorted. “Alright, I think I know who you’re talking about. There’s a bunch of creeps down here, but only one’s got an undercut.”

“Great! Let’s go-“

“You aren’t going anywhere. You’re going to go back up to the main road and wait. Someone will come up with the coins for you.”

“You mean, you won’t come?”

“I’m working at the moment.”

Nicolette didn’t understand what she meant by working. No one was around and all Marlene was wearing was that same skimpy outfit. “But I don’t see anyone.”

“Just go.”

The little girl rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Before she walked too far off, she turned back around. “My name is Nicolette by the way!”

“Nice meeting you, Lottie.”

 

~~~~~~~~

“Where have you been!?” the boy immediately asked her as Nicolette ran back up to where he was standing. “I thought you got kidnapped or something!”

The little girl huffed as she beamed up at the boy. “I found a way to get your coins back!” He squinted at her nervously, almost a little worried.

“How is that?”

“Well I met this woman down the alley, her name was Marlene. She knows who took them, and she’s gonna get them back!” Nicolette grinned broadly, standing back up straight once she caught her breath.

“A prostitute.”

“Hey! Don’t be-“

“I’m not being mean. That woman was a prostitute. She’s going to go sleep with the man who has my coins and get one of the girls in training to bring it back up.” His voice was a bit distant, somewhat cold.

“You don’t know that! She could just be going to fight him for it!”

“Don’t be dumb. That’s where they all hideout anyway,” his eyes were cast to the ground, shaggy black hair covering his face.

“Not like you would know,” she replied sassily, a bit cross with his attitude.

“Tch.”

The two sat in silence for the third time against the same side of the alley, but this time it was less comfortable. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Levi,” he responded immediately. Nicolette almost expected him to not tell her. “Yours?”

She didn’t really like her real name, and what Marlene had called her was kind of nice. She liked it. “Lottie.”

“That’s a stupid name, and definitely not your real one.”

Nicolette looked at him in shock, eyes wide with anger. “You don’t know that! My parents definitely named me Lottie! You shouldn’t be so mean to other people!”

“Says the one who called me an egg with a big nose.”

She was about to snap back at him until she saw the smirk on his face. The tension leaked from her shoulders, and a small laugh puffed past her lips. “Ha ha. You’re hilarious.”

“So what is your real name?” She opened her mouth to talk back. “And don’t even try to say Lottie is your real name, because it obviously isn’t.”

She sighed in defeat. “Nicolette.”

“Nicolette…” he repeated. “Pretty name.”

Nicolette didn’t know why she cared so much that this other little boy thought her name was pretty, and she didn’t know why that made her want to hear him test out saying it again. She just smiled.


	3. Out the Door

It hadn’t been long before a young girl, not much older than the two, came along with the very same pouch Levi lost earlier. She did not waste any time, dropping the bag by his feet then running back down the dark pathway. Nicolette looked over at him oddly, her hands resting on top of her knees.

“Why that look?” Levi asked, standing up. His hand was leaning against the wall to support the stiffness of his knees as he scooped down to pick the pouch up.

Nicolette shrugged. He offered her a hand and she took it, holding her long skirt up to avoid tripping. “So what now?”

An eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s no more money to steal back and no more scary men to distract. What do we do now?” her smile was small, but a giddy twinge of excitement tugged at every inch of her face.

“I have to go home.”

Nicolette’s shoulder’s immediately sagged with disappointment. “Home? Why?”

“I was supposed to get food, remember? I’ll go to the market to get some, and then go home.”

“Just like that?” her voice sounded so small, so fragile, that it made Levi shift uncomfortably.

“I guess…”

“Oh… okay.” She began to walk out of the alleyway, her head hanging. “Bye, Levi.”

For a moment, Levi considered inviting her to shop for food with him. He had to admit, he didn’t know much on the subject, only what was edible and what wasn’t. Just as his mouth opened to call out to her, he clamped it shut. His uncle had told him not to be weak, didn’t he? Having friends can make you weak.

Somehow, that didn’t seem right to the small boy. Not in any way. But he assumed that was what strength meant. Being alone and there only for yourself. But if he really thought that, why did he bother helping in the first place?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several streets down, Nicolette stood still in front of the old wooden door. Her bare feet were cold, sore, and covered in dirt. The hems of her skirt were fraying, definitely something her mother would comment on. With all of the activity, Nicolette had almost genuinely forgotten. She sighed, walking into her home.

“I’m back,” she announced, closing the door behind her. “Sorry I didn’t bring any food back. All I got to eat was an apple.” Her voice was jovial, but if one listened closely enough, you could hear the sorrow hiding away. “I have to admit, I still feel hungry.” There’s that bright smile.

It’s not that Nicolette expected a response, or even really hoped for one. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted or hoped to get from speaking to the corpses of her parents, but she did it anyway at this moment.

“I made a friend too! Crazy, right! His name is Levi. He’s pretty funny. Kind of like an egg with a big mop of hair. If he frowned more, he would look really silly and broody. Brooding wouldn’t suit him well,” her smile grew fond for a moment, before dropping back to its childlike state of recollection.

“I don’t think he’ll be coming around to visit though. He didn’t really seem like he wanted to stay friends.”

 

~~~~~~~~

“Levi! You’re late!” Kenny sat at the table, a lone candle lit and two cups of water sitting for the two of them.

“I’m sorry,” he hauled the basket up to the top of the table, “I ran into some trouble on my way to the market.”

“Trouble? Did you run into those thugs?”

“No, but-“

“Good. The Underground has been crawling with them recently. Even the Military Police snobs are forced to come down here to deal with them.” His uncle’s face twitched as he took the cloth off from over the purchased basket, organizing the cooked meat and vegetables Levi bought.

“I met a girl,” he blurted out, his little hands balled up by his sides.

Kenny looked down at him, his face scrunched up in mild curiosity. “Oh? What was her name?”

“Nicolette. I helped her get away from one of the shit stains that hangs out up the path.”

“Watch your mouth, young man,” Kenny grumbled, sipping his water. “And how did that take as long as it did? You have been gone much longer than anticipated.”

“Well… I threw the coins you gave me at him to distract him… and then she-“

“What?” the displeasure in his voice was as obvious as the low rocky ceiling that trapped the underground citizens.

“I threw the coins at him… and when he was distracted she got away…” noticing the growing aggravation in his uncle’s eyes, he quickly added, “but I got them back! That’s how I got the food! We went back to the alley and Nicolette talked to Marlene and Marlene got it back for us!”

“You dare associate with those women? After seeing how weak they are? You’ve seen it yourself, Levi! You can’t be like that! You cannot be influenced by such… such…”

“Lowly standards of a follower’s life?”

His lips pursed at the snide tone Levi took on. “Watch it.”

“Nicolette’s nice… I want to be her friend.”

Kenny said nothing, only staring down at his nephew.

“Can I be her friend?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

The two did not see each other for a full week. Within that week, several people of the underground took notice of the absence of Nicolette’s parents. A few local men approached her home, and when they discovered the bodies, they took them away to burn. To avoid spreading disease.

This is what Nicolette had been told when she showed up in her doorway with a basket full of food. It was unsettling to the locals that the only response they had to deal with was a frail “Oh… I see…” and a slight hang of her head. After that, the young girl simply walked out, her basket in tow.

Nicolette didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t really care. She was mad that her home was invaded without her there, and she was mad her parents had been taken from her in more ways than one. Only being 8 years old had its perks, and at this point she counted her ignorance as a liability.

Due to her lack of attention, she suddenly felt her body collide with someone else’s, causing the both of them to tumble down to the dirt ground. “Hey! Watch it!”

For some reason, the voice was familiar, but from where…

“Julian! She didn’t mean to,” another familiar voice.

“Shove off, idiot!” Nicolette stared up at the already standing figure of the boy. This was that bully from last week. “It’s the same girl! Remember her! The one who you thought actually wanted to fight me!” his tone was mocking, rude, and condescending. A deep red blush rose up on her cheeks.

“I never said that!”

“You didn’t say it, but you thought it, didn’t you?” Nicolette opened her mouth to protest, but Julian interrupted her. “Oh, what do we have here?” he started picking through the basket. All of it was filled with Surface Fruit. “This must’ve cost a pretty penny. Where’d you get that kind of money?” Nicolette bit her lip, starting to stand up.

“I… um…”

“I… um… nothing, brat! Where’d you get the money for this fruit!?”

“I stole it!” she blurted out, his raised voice making her body shake with a fear she hadn’t felt before. “I stole it,” she repeated in a quieter voice, her eyes locking onto the ground.

“Julian, we should probably just leave her alone.”

“I thought I told you to shove off!” Julian turned around and shoved the smaller kid, who barely managed to keep the fruit from falling a second time. “Go read a book or something!” The kid’s nose twitched, annoyance perking up in all of his features. He stayed quiet.

“Um… Can I have my fruit back?” the innocence in her voice would make any person’s heart ache, that is, if they had one to begin with.

“Why do you want it?” Julian taunted, his sudden outburst at the other kid forgotten.

“Because I’m hungry…”

“We’re all hungry, that doesn’t make you the queen.”

She shook her head in confusion, glancing up to face him. “I just want my food back!”

“Oh yeah? What’re you willing to do for i-“

Nicolette brushed past him to the smaller boy, reaching for her basket. He looked like he was about to hand it to her himself, but she was yanked back by the collar of her shirt. She squealed in surprise, her weight being lifted off of her own feet.

“Let me go!” she cried out, her body falling backwards into his grip.

The smirk in his voice was evident when he said, “okay!” She fell hard on her back, the wind knocked out of her for a brief moment. Before she could sit up, Julian’s foot was on her chest. Her little hands wrapped around his ankle as she writhed around under the pressure, but he just weighed too much.

“Get off of me!”

“Julian, this isn’t right!”

“Shut up, Farlan!”

Tears dripped down Nicolette’s face. “Please! Just get off of me!” her chest heaved with struggling breaths as her lungs were further compressed by his boot.

“What are you gonna do? Make me?”

“No. But I will,” the new voice was so welcome to Nicolette’s ears that she wanted to scream with joy. The weight was suddenly off her chest as Julian was sent flying into the ground, Levi’s body still positioned from his near perfect kick.

“Wha-What the hell!?” Julian sputtered and wheezed as his hand covered the target: his chest. “What’s your problem!?”

Levi didn’t say anything, taking another step toward him. That was all it took for Julian to scramble to his feet and dash off. Levi immediately kneeled down beside Nicolette, helping her sit up. “Are you okay?”

“Okay!? I’m amazing! That was so cool! You just,” she mimed a punching action with her fists, “boom! Then pow!” her familiar, lopsided smile was back up on her face. “He was running away with his tail between his legs!”

The other kid snickered, dropping the fruit basket next to the two friends. “Here’s your stuff… I’m really sorry about… all of that.”

Nicolette didn’t miss a beat. “That’s okay. He’s mean to you too, isn’t he? That’s why you try not to do anything. I saw him hit you with the sticks. That wasn’t nice of him.”

Farlan was taken aback by the outright bluntness of the girl, but even more surprised that she was still grinning up at him. “Uh, yeah… I guess.”

Levi stood up. “Farlan, right?”

Farlan nodded.

“I’m Levi.”

“And I’m Nicolette!”


	4. Tossed Aside

It was funny for Nicolette to watch how Levi’s entire demeanor changed with the presence of a new person. He looked so much more serious. Kind of grumpy.

“So what’s his deal anyway?” Levi had asked, helping Nicolette stand up.

“Julian?” Farlan scoffed. “He’s a coward. Unfortunately for me, he’s a strong coward with an inferiority complex.” Nicolette felt too embarrassed to ask what that meant.

“So he picked on you because you wouldn’t fight back?”

“I suppose,” the topic obviously made Farlan a bit uncomfortable. “I just didn’t think it was worth fighting him.”

“Why?” Nicolette piped up. She had one eyebrow raised, and her head had a slight tilt to it. Farlan smiled at her.

“I’m not a big fan of irrationality. Getting into a fight with him would get me into a bigger fight with a lot of people. I thought it was a better idea to just deal with him instead of the others.”

“The others?” Levi’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Without her quite noticing, he subconsciously stepped closer to the girl. “What others?”

Farlan smirked, but it looked wrong on his face. “The other thugs.” Hardly a beat passed before his eyes lit up with a realization. “Levi, you should join us!”

“No,” the answer came without a beat of hesitation, even Nicolette looked taken aback.

“But why? I mean, you’d have to prove you’re qualified to join and-“

“I said no.”

Nicolette chewed on the inside of her lip, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.

I can do stuff too, you know…

“Come on, Levi!” Farlan was almost begging at this point, and to Nicolette this did not seem like the wisest course of action. She wasn’t even sure why he was so adamant about him joining.

“Farlan,” she started, “do you want Levi to join for your thugs, or do you want him to join so Julian will leave you alone and you’ll have more of a say in what goes on?” She still had the same stubborn look on her face, not breaking eye-contact.

“Why would you say that?” he twitched subtly, but it did not go unnoticed by either of the other two.

“Because if Julian has some sort of say in what goes on and Levi could beat him without a problem, being his friend would give you some sort of one-up, wouldn’t it? So if you bring him back, he will beat all of the other thugs. Then he’ll be accepted and revered. By default, you’ll be revered not only for bringing him, but by being at least a fraction of an inch closer to him than the rest.”

To Farlan, the fact that this tiny, big-eyed, blonde-haired girl was lecturing him was somewhat unnerving. He glanced over at Levi, who was looking thoughtfully at Nicolette.

“That’s a good point… Is that why you want me to come, Farlan?”

The boy stammered for a moment, trying to make a comprehensive argument. “Well… No, it’s just… I think that-“

“Because if that is the case, I’d be more than happy just to show up and scare a few of the little shits.”

Nicolette’s eyes grew wide as she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Levi!”

Farlan didn’t see the slight upward twitch of his lip at the smallest’s reaction. “You would do that?”

Levi shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I won’t do it tonight though… I’m tired and want to go to bed.”

“Oh… um… alright. Meet here tomorrow then?”

Levi nodded.

“I’ll be here too!” Nicolette grinned, placing her hands on her hips. The clothes she wore were the same as the ones last week, Levi noticed. They’d gotten dirtier.

“Er… alright. Goodnight!” he began to walk off.

Nicolette and Levi shared a quick smile once Farlan was gone, then Levi turned to walk away. “Wait!”

“Hm?”

“How did you know I was in trouble?” Her voice wasn’t quite as small as he knew it to be, but then again, there wasn’t much he knew for sure about her.

“I didn’t.”

“Then why were you in this part of the city?”

He swept some his shaggy hair to the side, bringing his bony arms to attention. “Don’t walk up here much. Got curious.”

A large grin illuminated her face as she started to leave. “Goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, Nicolette.”

 

~~~~~~~~~

When telling time in an underground city, it can get a little complicated. Of course, there’s light time with some stranded lights and reaching sun beams, and dark time when one can barely see a foot beyond them even with torches.

Nicolette sat in the meeting spot, eyes wide open. She hadn’t slept at all, excitement jittering in her bones. She couldn’t sleep; if she slept she might not be there at the right time and the two would leave her behind! The light glowed eerily in a foggy haze, creating light shadows on the rocky ceiling of the city.

“Ugh,” Nicolette flopped against the wall. “Is it almost morning yet?”

“Not quite.”

She turned her head to see Farlan coming up to her. “Oh! Hi, Farlan!” she waved cheerily at him.

“Hey, Nic,” he slid down on the wall next to her.

“Nic?”

“Oh, do you not like that? Sorry, I won’t-“

For a moment, Farlan was worried he’d offended her. That is, until he heard her giggling. “That’s a boy’s name!”

“I just thought… A nickname you know? Nicolette is pretty long…”

“That’s okay. Nic is fine.” She gave him a reassuring smile and combed her fingers through her ratty hair. “What should I call you, huh? Farley?”

He scoffed. “That sounds like barley.”

“I don’t know, you are pretty grain-t.”

“…”

“Get it?” her dumb smile rose on her face. “Grain-t. Because grain. And great. Barley is a grain. And you’re great.” She snorted, hiding her face behind her hand. Farlan’s eyes widened is confusion for a moment, before he too started to chuckle.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Get what?”

Nic looked up at Levi, who had just approached. “Oh! I was explaining to Farlan why his name should be Farley.”

“That sounds like barley.”

“That aside,” Farlan’s tone grew serious as he stood up. He wasn’t much shorter than Levi, maybe a few centimeters. Nicolette was maybe a head shorter than both of them. “Are you ready to head out, Levi?”

He nodded. Nic stood up, brushing the dust off of the back of her skirt.

“Okay then. Let’s head out.”

The three started walking, Farlan leading the way with the other two trailing behind. Each one had their own train of thought, unique to the person.

Farlan fiddled with the hem of his linen shirt.

If this doesn’t work out, I’ll be cast aside even further than now… They might kick me out… But on the other hand… they could respect me. I could get the respect I deserve! Maybe Levi will change his mind and join us…

Levi stared straight ahead, conscious of the knife hidden inside his pants.

I wonder how many there will be. It’ll be interesting to see if I can beat them all unarmed. It would be a blow to any thug’s pride to have a 12 year old best them in combat.

He glanced at Nicolette.

I wonder what she’s thinking about all this.

Nicolette hopped along beside Levi, skipping barefoot on the dirt. Her soft face was lit up with her signature lopsided smile.

I wonder if I can take anything while they’re all getting beat up by Levi… It’s gonna be so cool! He’s gonna show those bullies not to mess with us! We’re totally going to become a duo. Nicolette and Levi! No… Levi and Nicolette! Levi and Nic? Levi and Lottie? Whatever. Then Farlan won’t have to worry about people being mean to him anymore!

The three came to a stop outside of a rather large, worn-down looking house. The wooden door seemed to have decayed, holes exposing the darkness of the inside.

“So… how are we doing this?” Farlan whispered.

“How are we...? What do you mean how are we doing this!?” Levi whisper-yelled back. “You mean you just brought us all here with no sort of plan?”

“No! I mean… Yes! But that’s not important!”

“I get that I’m the dumbest one here, but that seems pretty important to me,” Nic grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Look, I’ll just go in and say—“

“And say what? I brought someone here to fight all of you with the hopes he’d win and prove to you that I’m not your punching bag!?”

“…Well when you say it like that-“

“Saying it like that is how it is, Farlan!” Levi stopped himself, pinching his nose and sighing. “These guys will be prideful scum. I’m leaving.” He turned away from the door. “Nicolette, let’s go.”

Nic started to turn around, but Farlan grabbed her wrist. “Ow! Farley, let go!”

“No, wait! I don’t want to stay here!” Farlan let his hand slide off of her wrist, letting it dangle by his side. “I can’t stay here anymore…” his pleading blue eyes were wide, staring them desperately. “Help me leave.”

Before someone could answer, the door creaked open. “F-Farlan?’

Levi took a sharp intake of breath as he made eye-contact with Julian, whose mouth was in a firm line.

“You’re not as much of a pretty boy in the mornings, huh?” Nic wondered aloud, a thoughtful finger on her chin.

Julian glared, baring his teeth. “You little b-,” he stopped once he noticed Levi’s cold look; the black eyes seemingly daring him to say another word. “Why did you bring them here, Farlan? You know they won’t be happy.”

“Who’s they?” Nic asked, her eyebrows scrunching up.

They ignored her. “I know, Julian. I just… I’ve decided I’m leaving.”

“Oh yeah?” he leaned against the doorway, a smirk on his face. “It doesn’t just work like that.”

“Julian? Who’s at the door?” The rippling voice sent all four of them on edge, fear creeping into Farlan and Julian’s eyes.

“Oh no…”


	5. Skip Down the Street

A very tall, lean man peered over the top of Julian’s head, making the boy seem tiny in comparison. If Nicolette had to guess, he couldn’t be older than his 20’s. To her, that was pretty old. “What have we got here, Julie?” he asked, a playful smirk on his face.

Levi felt the hairs on his neck stand up, his muscles tensing.

“Farlan returned after spending the entire night out, sir. He brings two… err… guests.” Nic began to feel very uncomfortable at how nervous all the boys were. While Levi wore a look of caution and displayed suspicion, the other two were in a state of complete submission.

“Oh, no. Only one. She was just leaving,” Farlan quickly added, looking pointedly at Nicolette. It may have been her child-like ignorance, her stubbornness at the idea of not being included, or maybe even plain stupidity, but she did not notice the pleading look in Farlan’s eyes.

“No I wasn’t!” She kept her arms crossed defiantly. Levi looked back, a twinge of worry in the back of his mind.

What does Farlan know?

“Well, that’s a relief,” the stranger tilted his head to the side, forcing a sliver of perfect, blonde hair to fall over one of his blue eyes. “It’s always nice to have a little lady join us.”

While Nic smiled, Levi and Farlan shared a look of minor panic. Julian bit the inside of his cheek, his head bowed to the ground.

“But didn’t you say you had somewhere to be?” Levi pushed, staring deeply into her innocent hazel eyes. He did his very best to push the message through eye-contact alone.

Please. Get out of here. Now!

“Don’t you two boys know it’s rude to push away a guest!?” the stranger raised his voice. Farlan flinched, immediately looking down to the dirt like Julian.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Levi’s mouth was in a straight line as he looked up to the man with squinted eyes. “Who are you, shit-stain?”

“Levi!” Nic smacked the back of his shoulder with her tiny palm. “Don’t be so rude!”

Nicolette, how dense could you possibly be!?

The man laughed. “It’s quite alright, doll.” Levi gritted his teeth at the nickname, his nose wrinkling. “He’s just trying to pretend he’s more of a man than he really is. Quite common in young boys. It takes them a while to figure it all out,” he winked at her.

The feeling of the knife against his leg was tingling, sending a burning sensation up and down his body. Levi considered pulling it out, until he noticed something behind the man’s back. A knife belt rested around his hips, decorated in several filled sheaths. The handles glistened in the dim lantern light, threatening those who looked at them.

“My name’s Alrick,” he said as he pushed past Julian, nearly knocking the boy over, to kneel down to Nicolette’s height. “And yours is?”

“Alrick… weird.”

A flash of anger crossed his eyes, but his face barely betrayed it. Levi’s jaw clenched as he went back to eyeing the knives. “It means ‘One who rules all’. Quite noble, wouldn’t you say?”

While Nicolette wasn’t familiar with any debonair smiles, it didn’t take a genius to know his was one. “Well… I uh… I suppose. But should you really call yourself noble if you work with a bunch of thugs?”

Both Farlan and Julian stared at the ground in rigid, mute horror. Levi stared harshly at Alrick’s face, watching the calm demeanor crumble into aggression.

“My name’s Levi,” he stated bluntly, taking the attention off Nicolette.

“Levi, huh?” he repeated, turning his body. The anger seemed to leak out of him, his façade coming back into play. “Now that’s strange.”

“Not as strange as Alrick, though,” Levi shot back, not breaking the eye-contact. The two stared each other down for several moments, the tension finally seeping through Nicolette’s dense skull.

“What are you, twelve? Too young to have opinions.”

“Ah, quite. I forgot. It’s hard to have conversations with you old people; the older you get, the more thinking is below your rank. Intellect is hard to come by.”

Farlan looked at Levi past his bangs with a gaping mouth, eyes bulging with petrified shock. Julian could hardly look from the corner of his eyes.

To the two boys’ relief, Alrick laughed. But at this point, that was more of a red flag than anything else so far. “Well, I must admit, I’m impressed. You may just be smarter than old Farlan over here.” Alrick’s smirk turned sinister as he moved mere centimeters away from Levi’s face. “I must insist you and your friend join us for a meal. How rude would it be for you to decline my hospitality?”

Levi’s blank face didn’t falter, his cold gaze boring into Alrick’s deep blue eyes. He could decline. He could say no. Light reflected off a knife handle, catching Levi’s attention. He spared a lone glance down, then one over to Nicolette, who already had her eyes on him. He couldn’t help but feel thankful that she didn’t look scared, only very, very confused.

“Saying no doesn’t seem like an option,” Levi mumbled. Alrick stood straight up, leering down at him.

“Smart kid. Come along, doll,” he put a hand on Nicolette’s shoulder, which came to around his stomach. Farlan twitched, watching the older man intently. “What did you say your name was?”

Nic looked back at Levi and Farlan, seeing a strange mix of anticipation and fear in their eyes. “Uh… um…”

“Didn’t quite catch that?”

Nicolette jumped at the sudden coolness in his tone. His eyes looked sharp, as if they could cut her when they looked down.

“Nicolette.”

Alrick’s smirk came back. “Nicolette. Very nice.”

It didn’t feel as nice to have Alrick compliment her name. She didn’t like the way it sounded when he said it. She looked back at Levi again, a twinge of worry reflecting in both of their eyes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

All four of the children found themselves seated at a rather long table, Alrick at the head. Nicolette and Farlan sat beside each other one side, Levi and Julian on the other, much to Levi’s discontent. “So,” Alrick began, holding a wine cup in his hand, “what made you bring these guests for me, Farlan?”

The blonde boy swallowed, his hands folded tightly in his lap. “It’s not… I didn’t…”

“Didn’t what?” the challenging tone made Farlan flinch and hide inside himself.

“They’re both loners. No one would notice they were gone.”

Nicolette looked at him in shock, her eyebrows narrowed. “What?”

Levi’s blank face burned with rage just under the surface.

This is what happens when you try to help strangers. They get you into trouble.

Alrick laughed, throwing his head back. Wine droplets splashed over the edge of the cup, landing on the wooden table-top. “I’m impressed, Farlan…” he looked curiously at the boy, leaning his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. “I didn’t think you’d ever do such a thing.”

Farlan bit the inside of his cheek, looking down. Nicolette stared at him, still processing the situation. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to get up and leave, that much was obvious from the atmosphere of the room. Essentially, she felt chained to her chair.

Levi looked at her from across the table, and the two made eye-contact. Based on the focused look in his eyes, Nic knew that this was not going to end well for someone.

“Nicolette,” her head snapped toward Alrick, who sat at the head of the table nearest to her, “how did you and Farlan meet?”

She looked at Farlan and Julian for a moment, neither of them daring to glance at her. “Well, um…”

Should I lie?

“I was leaving my house to go to the market, and I saw them playing.”

“Playing? Is that right?”

“Uh, yes! Yes! They were playing! And I wanted to join in! But they said I couldn’t because I’m too small and would get hurt, but then they were both nice about it, and then I went and got food! But then later, I got in trouble with some-“

Nicolette stopped herself. Was she going too far?

“In trouble with some…?” Alrick trailed off, obviously curious.

“No one,” she squeaked out.

“Hm…” Alrick leaned both elbows on the table. “You know, little doll, you’re a horrible story teller, but an even worse liar.”

Levi’s hand found the hilt of the knife as Alrick leaned forward, closer to Nicolette.

“I’m not a fan of liars…”

She gulped, looking to the other three boys for help. She got none.

“I… I…”

“I also think stuttering is pathetic and obnoxious.”

Her face flushed a bright red as she sunk further back into her seat, feeling more trapped than before.

Julian piped up, “We were playing, sir. She walked over after I beat Farlan in a play fight. I hit him with my sticks, and when he cried she looked over. Then she left. I tried to take her fruit yesterday, then this kid came and sent me off. Next thing I know, they’re all here, sir.”

Levi, Nicolette, and Farlan all looked over at Julian with surprised faces.

“Ah, I see. That would make more sense. Farlan was always a coward.”

When Nic saw Farlan’s shoulders sag, her heart panged. “That’s not true!” she blurted out. “Farlan isn’t a coward! He just knows which fights are worth it! He doesn’t go charging in to any old argument like you probably do because he isn’t arrogant like you are!”

“Nicolette,” Levi said. His voice was low, warning her to stop.

“What? It’s probably the truth!” she continued, oblivious to the clenched jaw at the head of the table. “I bet it’s because he was beat up a lot as a kid, and now that he has people listening to him he abuses it to scare people into doing what he wants!”

A few heartbeats went by. Levi had the knife discreetly by his thigh, his hand wrapped tightly around the handle. Alrick’s eyes were trained hard on Nicolette, his body tense. Farlan and Julian both stared at Alrick, waiting to see what he would do.

“Julie. Farlan. Leave the room.” His voice was nothing close to a suggestion. The two boys immediately responded to the order, hopping out of their seats and walking towards the exit.

“Sir,” Farlan began before opening the door, “please don’t-”

“Damien.” Once Alrick spoke the name, almost by magic, a man standing near the table walked over and slapped Farlan across the face.

Nicolette’s mouth was hanging open, Levi’s knife-hand twitching. Listening to the young boy’s cry in pain hurt both of them as they watched him continue to get beaten. Both wanted to stop looking. Both wanted to stop it. Neither did a thing.

“Farlan, I’ll say it again,” Alrick’s voice resembled the sound of silk, but to Nicolette it seemed more toxic than anything. The beating stopped long enough for Farlan to catch his breath between sobs, climbing onto his hands and knees. “Leave. The. Room.”

The three at the table watched Farlan crawl out of the room, followed by a straight-faced Julian. Nicolette wanted to comment on how mean that was, how rude of a man he must be. She was actually about to when Levi glared at her.

Not a word, Nic. Not one word.


	6. Unfair Bargain

Kenny… Now’s the time to show up.

Levi reached out with his mind, hoping his uncle would somehow know where he was and realize he’d been gone too long like last time. But then, why would he come? Why would he come if he was too weak to solve the problem on his own?

His shaggy hair fell over his face as he watched Alrick, who was intently observing Nicolette. They had all been sitting quietly for a few minutes after Farlan left, not a word being spoken. The look in Alrick’s eyes made Levi feel something, similar to anger but not quite.

Nicolette didn’t return the stare in any way, the harshness of it letting her feel why Farlan and Julian were so submissive to this man. Her hand was tangled in a strand of hair that came over her right shoulder, tugging roughly while the inside of her cheek began to bleed due to her nervous chewing.

“Stop.”

Nic froze, her hand going still and her teeth stopping. Noting a look of fear in her eyes, Levi’s nose twitched. He had a hard time controlling his expressions, but he felt a surge of protectiveness. She looked so small, so breakable to him. The way she immediately stopped moving…

“Why are we here, Alrick?” Levi asked, staring at him. “Farlan mentioned no one noticing our absence?” Levi’s voice was close to monotonous, only a slight hint of curiosity.

Alrick shifted his eyes from Nicolette, face hard as stone. From the corner of his eye, Levi could see tension evaporate from the girl’s body. “Well, Levi, would you really like to know?”

“I can’t help but wonder why else I would ask, Alrick.”

The exchange was curt and obviously passive aggressive. “It’s no secret to you that I’m one of those so-called thugs that roams these streets. One of many. But I’m not your average dealer of contraband…” he shot a look at Nicolette, whose eyes were still on the floor.

“So what do you do then? I can’t imagine something simple like disrupting trade or harassing soldiers.”

“Harassing them?” Alrick laughed. “Hardly. Some even take me up on certain offers.”

“It’s strange you’re saying all of this, you know…” Nicolette mumbled, looking up to scrutinize his face. “It’s strange you’re telling us anything at all if you’re just going to kill us.”

“Well, if I were going to kill you, which I’m not, it would make you a prime person to tell everything to… dead people can’t tell another person’s secrets.”

Nicolette tilted her head. “If you’re not killing us, what are you going to do?”

“He’s going to sell you and kill me,” Levi stated bluntly. “Right, Alrick?”

The man pursed his lips, staring at Levi with resent. “I’m not a liar. That sounds correct to me.”

“Sell… sell me?” Nicolette’s head shook with disbelief. “Sell me… the way we’re talking about it is like I’m a crop…”

“Well…” Alrick trailed off as to say ‘well, aren’t you?’

“I’m not a crop!” Nic stated boldly. “Don’t even think about treating me like one.”

Alrick’s face contorted strangely, and for a moment, Levi thought he was going to attack her. That is, until he broke into the most hysterical laughter he’d ever heard in his life. “Wow, Levi. This one’s got a big mouth, huh?” The way he looked at the younger boy displayed an endless amount of taunting and arrogance.

“Yeah, I’ve got a mouth! And it bites too!” Levi looked over at her in shock, not expecting her to show any form of outright aggression. “Let us go!”

“Nicolette-“

“Let you go? Why?” Alrick seemed genuinely curious as to what her answer would be, leaning his head on his hands to bring his face closer to her.

“Because… Because otherwise…”

“What? What will you do?” He got out of his seat, psychotic eyes wide. “Tell me what you’ll do, little Nicolette.” He kneeled down next to her chair, putting his mouth next to her ear. She wanted to move away, she really did, but the fear felt like a lead weight in her stomach. “Tell me…”

“Stop it,” Levi spoke, his voice louder than before. He got out of his seat, the knife now noticeable by his side. “Don’t get near her.”

“Oh… Well, this does make things interesting, doesn’t it?” Alrick grabbed Nicolette’s cheeks roughly, forcing her to look directly at Levi. “You see this, doll? He’s helping you. He’s done that before right? Does he always have to come to your rescue?”

Instead of responding verbally, it took Nicolette less than two seconds to turn her head sharply and grab onto his wrist with her teeth. He easily shook her off, wrapping a hand around her neck.

“Bitch! What in the,” he looked down at the slight trail of blood coming down his forearm. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that one…” his eyes were dark. So dark. Nicolette didn’t know what to do.

“Alrick!” Levi jumped on top of the table, about to charge, but stopped suddenly. His vision was following the silver knife Alrick held in his free hand against Nicolette’s throat, his other holding onto a messy clump of hair.

“Tch. What are you going to do Levi? You can’t win here.” Alrick’s eyes darted around the room, where several other men still stood. Damien and two others on either side of the door. “You’re outnumbered.”

“Levi, I know you can do it,” Nicolette’s voice was scratchy as the knife pressed harder against her pale skin.

Levi eyed the knife, wary of moving any further. “If I fight all of you and win, can we both leave?” he asked Alrick.

“Ha! If I say no, I can just take her anyway and have those three kill you.”

“You’ll also be a coward.”

Silence.

“Are you afraid of losing to a twelve year old, Alrick?”

The other guys in the room shifted in their spots, watching the conflict intently.

“You know, I bet I could beat all four of you with only this knife,” Levi bragged, twirling his knife once in his hand. “But if you’re too scared to try to fight me, just say the word… Coward.”

Nicolette smiled.

Forcing him to act on his arrogance… Smart, Levi.

“I’m finding it hard to say no.” Alrick sheathed his knife. “You’ve got me backed in a corner. But I’m not sure you understand what that means for you.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alrick had the fight moved outside to allow the rest of his followers to come watch. Several Underground citizens also joined in, wondering what the fuss was all about. Inside a ring of people were five men: Alrick and his three thugs, then Levi on his own. They stood on opposite sides of the circle, Nicolette held still by another member.

There were shouts and screams, cheering on who they thought would win. Some even threw coins at them, placing bets. Levi tuned all of them out. He counted six knives on Alrick’s belt, and the other three had one each.

One of them is too fat to move; all I need to do is use my agility. The other two seem adequate, one with brute strength and the other with quick reflexes.

He could tell this much just by looking at them, studying them.

Alrick… he’s going to be the toughest. I’ll have to do more than unarm him.

“Ready to lose?” the man himself called from the other side of the circle. Levi didn’t answer, flipping his hair out of his face. “Alright then.”

The four all charged him at once, each with their knife pointed forward, Alrick holding two. Levi spread his feet apart, creating balance, before flipping over to the side, forcing them to change their direction. This continued on two more times until Alrick realized Levi could keep this up.

“Damien, Holt, you two go over there. Jacques, go to his right.” The three listened to him, slowly backing Levi up against the wall of people. They moved out of the way so that Levi was really moving towards a real wall, one made of stone. He glanced over his shoulder at it, then back at the men. His face remained blank.

“What’re you gonna do, Levi?” Alrick taunted, his two knives reflecting light onto the dirt.

He rolled his eyes, “Tch.” Alrick’s face twitched, anger building up from the disrespect.

The fat man moved first, coming at Levi with what seemed to be his top-speed. Levi simply side-stepped, bringing his knife upwards in a clean arc to catch the man’s wrist. He dropped the knife, shouting in pain. Levi picked it up and spun it around, looking back at Alrick.

“I didn’t know pigs could hold knives.”

“You little-” the fat man had a stab-wound in his shoulder before he could finish. He screamed, falling over.

Levi looked down at his hands, specks of blood staining them. “I’m going to get dirty…” Nicolette’s eyes were glued to Levi, watching in amazement.

Damien moved closer to Levi, his knife held a few feet ahead of him. “You’re not going to last another minute, brat.”

“You would all have a better chance if you didn’t try to show off charging in one by one… either way, your chances of winning are slim.”

Damien growled, then started pacing towards him. Levi checked to see how far the wall was from him, then turned and started running to it. “Yeah, you better run!”

Damien’s heavy footsteps tracked after him, picking up speed. Just before the knife made contact with Levi’s back, his foot caught flat on the wall, pivoting him to the side of Damien. He quickly gained his footing and sank one of the knives into the muscular man’s right side, directly into a kidney.

The knife was yanked out after he collapsed from shock, wheezing into the dirt. “Honestly, you all are disappointing me…” Levi’s voice was bored and monotonous as he flicked some blood off the blades. “I expected a bit more.”

Alrick stayed back, fear leaking into his eyes. “Jacques! What are you doing? Get him!” The last man glanced between Alrick and Levi, deciding who he’d rather deal with. He sighed, spinning the knife across the back of his hand.

“I hate my job…” he mumbled, running towards Levi.

Jacques lunged at Levi, who uses the flat side of his right blade to block it. He brings his left knife up to slash at him, but Jacques leaped back. The two stared at each other, analyzing.

“You’re pretty good for a kid.”

“You’re pretty mediocre.”

Nicolette snorted, her captor jostling her. “Shut up,” he snapped. A small squeak came out of her mouth before she focused back on Levi, making sure she stayed still.

The noise grabbed Levi’s attention. When he turned his head to look at her, Jacques immediately responded, rushing at him. There was barely enough time for the smaller one to side-step and parry the blow, jumping back to regain distance.

“Come on, Jacques!” Alrick yelled, his face winkled with aggravation. “Finish this already!”

“It would go a lot faster if you came in and helped, sir.”

“He’s not wrong, Alrick,” Levi agreed. “I could end this a lot faster if I were able to beat both of you at once.”

Alrick’s entire body twitched, shaking with fury. “You want a fight? Oh, I’ll give you a fight.” Alrick rushed forward, pushing Jacques to the ground. He swung a wide arc at Levi’s chest, which he ducked underneath. Levi then rolled to Alrick’s left, slicing the side of his leg on the way. As he stood back up, he stabbed both of Jacques thighs then gashed his right forearm, the one holding the knife.

Farlan and Julian watched from behind two tall men, eyes glowing. “This kid is fucking insane…” Julian mumbled.

“No kidding…”

Levi stood back up, Alrick limping to turn around. Bloodlust radiated from him, his teeth bared as spit pooled near the corners of his mouth. “I won’t be beaten by a child!”

“Funny, I was about to say the same to you.”

When he came at Levi again, it was much easier for Levi to spin to the side, effortlessly dodging another swing. “Quite dodging and fight me!”

“Oh, we were fighting? Sorry, I thought you were still warming up.” Nicolette snickered behind her hand, careful to make less noise.

Levi is so cool…

Alrick charged again, but this time Levi didn’t jump away. He ran in the exact direction of Alrick, the two running head on at each other. Just before Levi was in stabbing range, he ducked beneath the man’s arms and sliced his knife up, stopping just before he punctured his neck.

Alrick froze. Levi pressed the flat end of the knife into his throat, the other digging into the top of his shoulder. “Drop the knives.”

The clang of metal echoed in the silence. His two knives hit each other as they landed on the street. Levi brought one of his knives down and cut off Alrick’s belt with the other four knives, then backed away.

“If there’s ever a next time, Alrick, your men will be cleaning you up with a dish rag,” the monotonous voice sent chills down everyone’s spine. Well, everyone except Nicolette, who smiled triumphantly.

“Why not now?” he muttered, falling to his knees. “Just kill me now instead.”

“If I do that, I don’t get the satisfaction of knowing you have to live your life with the knowledge you were beaten by a child. I can only imagine,” he knelt down to Alrick’s level, “the humiliation…”

“…” Alrick looked to the ground in shame, his body shaking.

“Nicolette,” Levi beckoned, beginning to walk off, “Let’s go.”

“You got it!” She easily shook off the slackened hands of her captor and jogged up to Levi, her bare feet caked in dust.

As they pushed through the crowd, Levi saw one familiar face. His uncle Kenny was watching him. The two shared a mutual look of understanding, then Kenny walked off. Levi looked to the ground, hiding the emotion in his eyes.

“We should get you some shoes… the ground is filthy…”


	7. Linked

“Levi, where are we going?” Nicolette asked, trailing after him. “Levi?” The two had walked away from the fight a while ago and had been walking the streets for roughly 20 minutes. “Levi?”

He didn’t answer. All he did was turn directly into an alleyway.

“Levi?” she turned in too, and as soon as she did, his blank face faded into one of worry.

“You’re okay right? They didn’t hurt you at all?” his hand grabbed her chin, lifting it up to see if her neck had any cuts on it at all. “I should’ve killed all of them…”

“Wow. Um…” Nicolette took a step back, grabbing Levi’s hand with both of hers. “Calm down there. Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine.”

Levi pulled his hand back. “Are you sure? No bruises, cuts, anything?” She shook her head, grinning. Levi couldn’t help noticing she had a dimple only on her left cheek.

“If anyone should be worried, it’s me. You just beat four grownups without even breaking a sweat!” her huge eyes glistened with amazement. “It was incredible!”

He cleared his face again, looking down at the dried blood on his hands. None had gotten on her face, but Nic realized the mess was bothering him. “Here, follow me. I need to get this cleaned up,” Levi began walking deeper in the alley when Nicolette realized where they were.

“Levi… this is the alley where I was-”

“Are you coming?” he cut her off intentionally. She knew that. She didn’t move for a moment, looking at the way his eyes focused on her, begging her not to say anything else.

Nic nodded.

He jerked his head to the path. “Come on then.”

Nicolette followed him, her hands swinging by her sides. “I didn’t know you lived down here.” He stayed quiet. “Sorry, I won’t say anything else.”

Their eyes readjusted to the shifting light, growing more used to the blackness. Very dim lanterns hung off of doors, small rays of light poking out from behind window shutters. They came up to a very small shack-looking home, the door barely supported in its place.

Levi walked up, holding open the door for Nicolette to walk in. “Thanks,” she said, going inside.

It was astonishingly clean inside the house, hardly a speck of dust in sight. The lone bed was made, the table was wiped down, the floor swept. Not a single cobweb resided in the corners, and everything was organized in its place. Nicolette liked it.

“It’s so… clean.”

Levi shrugged. “My uncle liked to clean it. I understand why; it’s filthy down here.” He walked over to a bucket with a rag hanging over the side. Once the rag was soaked, he rubbed the dirt and blood off of his hands, then his bare feet. The rag was then discarded to the side so that it could be washed later.

“Why don’t you wear any shoes?”

“What?”

“You said that I needed some shoes because the ground is dirty.

“Filthy.”

She ignored his correction, “But you don’t wear any either.”

Levi sighed, flipping his hair out of his face again. “I’ve been saving for a pair of boots I saw in the market.”

“Saving? What, do you have a job?” The idea of Levi listening to someone else’s orders kind of amused her.

“No.”

“Have you been stealing the money?”

“Stealing is a harsh word.”

Nicolette snorted, rolling her eyes. “If you’re going through enough trouble to ‘steal’,” she made quotations with her fingers, “the money, why not just steal the boots, dummy!”

Levi was about to argue, when he realized that she was actually right. “Oh…”

“Yeah. You’re supposed to be smart, Levi,” she teased, walking over to shove his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll get the boots for you.”

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. “Please, you’re about as competent at stealing as you are at… at…”

“At what?” Nicolette leaned forward, her hands on her hips. The snide, teasing tone of voice forced Levi to give her a one-sided smile.

“Come back to me on that one, I’ll figure it out.”

Her laugh filled the one-room house as she walked over to one of the chairs at the table. Both of her feet dangled off the edge of the chair, a good few centimeters from the ground. “So… all of that,” the seriousness in Nicolette’s voice was almost alarming to Levi; he turned his entire body to face her. “Thank you for not letting them sell me.”

The blunt affection in that statement made Levi’s fingers curl up. His smile dropped. “Human beings are not property, and any person who treats them as such isn’t a person at all…”

Nicolette smiled sadly at him. “Guess so.”

“Besides,” Levi habitually picked under his fingernails, “your parents would miss you, wouldn’t they?”

Now, Levi wasn’t an idiot. He knew that it was likely she was an orphan, and that’s why she had to steal fruit. Why she had one pair of clothes, not that there were many wardrobe choices for anyone, but hers were nearly at the point of rags. But he had to ask.

Nicolette bit her lip, her throat feeling a bit constricted. “No. They can’t.”

The word-choice was enough to confirm Levi’s suspicions. He looked down too, sparing a glance at the bed for only a brief moment. He realized then where he was standing. The same spot. That spot he sat for days. No eating. No drinking. Levi took a step forward.

“Sorry for saying anything…” he mumbled, moving to the only other chair at the table.

“That’s okay,” she rubbed her eyes quickly before looking back up at him. “Besides, what about your uncle?”

“I don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“Um… what do you mean?”

“He’s not dead,” Nicolette let out a breath of relief, “he just left. I knew he wouldn’t stay forever but…” his hair fell into his face again, obscuring his eyes.

Nicolette frowned, then hopped off the chair. She grabbed the back of it, then dragged it around so it was behind Levi’s. “Give me one of your knives.”

A bit of reluctance appeared in his face. “And why, exactly, should I do that?”

“Oh, come on, Levi. It’s not like I’d win in a fight against you with or without a knife. Can I please have it?”

Levi hesitantly took his knife from the inside of his pants and handed it to her. She looked at it for a moment, then held it in her left hand. “Now um… try to stay still…” she climbed on top of her chair behind him.

“Nicolette, what in the f-”

A lock of his shaggy hair fell to the floor, and the two looked at it in awe.

“Are you seriously cutting my hair right now?”

“It’s always blocking your face! It could get in the way in a fight! Plus, it makes you look weird.”

“You’re saying I look weird?”

“The weirdest. An egg with a big nose, remember?”

“Please don’t make me bald…” he mumbled, almost in prayer. Nicolette giggled, then started to slice off some more clumps of hair.

Every now and then she would swipe some loose strands off his shoulders, blow on his head, then keep going. Neither of them said anything, the only sound coming from the blade cutting off his hair. Several minutes passed when Nicolette stepped off the stool, coming around the front to view her work.

“Oh… oh my…”

“What did you do!?” Levi’s voice rose as a hand frantically patted his head.

“Um… Nothing! Nothing! I just have to… um… touch it up! Yeah! It’s fine!”

The hair on his head was still there, sure. But the bottom of his hair was much longer than the top of his head, almost like a discounted mullet.

“Nicolette… Have you ever done this before?”

“Um… yes?”

Levi groaned as she climbed back up on the chair. “Please fix it.”

“I can! Um…” she thought for a moment, the knife still in her hand. She tapped the point of it on her chin in thought, then shouted, “I got it! I got it… you have to stay really, really still, okay?”

“Oh my g-”

“Levi! Trust me!”

“Fine! Okay! Still! I’m sitting still.”

“Oh, don’t pout, you big baby. Your precious hair will be fine,” she mocked. With her free hand, Nicolette made him bend his neck forwards. The blade of the knife was held at a very light angle as she dragged it across the lower half of his head in a familiar hairstyle. Hair continued to fall on the floor, making a mess Levi knew he would hate cleaning up.

This time, when Nicolette jumped off the chair, she actually didn’t think it looked half-bad. “Huh. Nice job.”

“Did you just congratulate yourself?”

“Not like you were going to do it.”

He smirked, then patted his head with both hands again. She gave him a military undercut.

“If they can fight with it, then you should be able to too.”

Levi didn’t want to point out that the Military Police didn’t fight too often, as it could ruin her smile. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. Both turned their heads to look at it, Levi taking out his second knife. “Hello?” Nicolette narrowed her eyes at the voice, recognizing it immediately. She dropped the knife on the table then ran to the door, swinging it open.

“Farlan?”

“Nicolette, get away from him,” Levi pulled her back, standing in the door way with his knife out in front of him.

“Levi!?”

“Levi,” Farlan held his hands out in front of him to show surrender, “I’m not here to fight you.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a fight.”

Nicolette came back up beside Levi, pushing his knife down toward the ground. “Listen to him.”

He looked at Nicolette in utter disbelief. “This is the guy that took us to a man to have you sold! And you want to…” he squinted, “You want to listen to him!?”

“Yes.”

The two stared in each other’s eyes for a moment, leaving Farlan’s fate in the exchange. Levi eventually looked away first. He stalked off and leaned against the wall next to the bed. Nicolette smiled, then grabbed Farlan’s wrist, dragging him through the door.

“Sorry, I followed you guys here,” he mumbled as he shut the door behind him before being dragged into a chair. “I had to talk to you…”

“That’s okay, I’m sure there’s a good reason.” Nicolette turned the other chair around so that they could face each other, then hopped on. Her feet swung back and forth as she waited for Farlan to continue.

“I didn’t lie to you guys…”

“Bullshit.”

“Levi, let him finish…” Nicolette, despite being the youngest, gave Farlan an encouraging look not unlike one a mother would give.

Farlan took a quick breath. “I never wanted you two to get caught up in that… I just wanted to leave… I didn’t really know if you would win,” he looked to the other boy in the room, “but I was desperate to have a chance to get out of there…”

“So you were willing to sacrifice me for your own selfish motives?”

“Levi!” Nicolette’s voice was hard and scolding, shocking him into silence. “He’s confiding in us, in your own home, and this is the respect you show him?”

“Oh, like they showed us respect!”

“Quit being rude!”

“Quit being such a child!”

“We’re all children!” she shouted back, hopping off her seat. The act made Levi sit up straighter, conscious that she might start coming towards him. “We are all children here, and as a host, you are to show hospitality to guests. That’s how it works.”

He scoffed, but didn’t reply, looking back to the wooden floor.

“Farlan,” her voice was soft again, and the blonde boy could hardly believe this was the same girl. “Would you like to continue?”

His eyes darted between Levi and Nicolette. “Um… I came to ask if I could join you guys…”

“Join us?” Nicolette narrowed her eyebrows, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I want to be your friend…” his eyes were on the hem of his shirt as he fiddled with it, avoiding their gazes. “I didn’t mean what I said to Alrick, but I meant everything I said to you guys… I was trying to save myself… but now…” he looked up at them, his grip on the shirt tightening, “I know I was being a coward. I know I should have stood up to him then and there.”

Nicolette’s eyes traced over the bruises on Farlan’s face and his cut lip, only imagining the other injuries beneath his clothes.

“I shouldn’t have lied to save myself… I shouldn’t have…” he clenched his jaw.

“We’re friends.”

The two boys looked to Nicolette in shock, who walked directly in front of Farlan. Nicolette placed her hands on top of his, stopping their fidgeting. She then smiled at him, coaxing him to smile back.

“It’s all settled then! The three of us against the world!”

Levi’s lips turned upwards.

What a childlike thing to say…


	8. Track

The next morning came, all three children having agreed to sleep at Levi’s. Everyone seemed to be exhausted and asleep. Well… almost everyone. Farlan slept on the floor, two thin blankets wrapped around him. Levi was asleep with his head on the table, still sitting in a chair.

The only bed in the house was empty. Nicolette had been sleeping there, as Levi and Farlan both agreed that the youngest should get the one bed. Her warmth still lingered in the sheets that were tossed to the side, a small fraction of dust tainting the whiteness.

Levi’s arms shifted, forcing him to lift his head. Both eyes cracked open, the miniscule amount of light coming from the lanterns hanging by the door. He looked around the room, lingering on Farlan’s body before the bed. It was empty. Dark eyes widening, Levi jumped out of the chair, opening the front door of the house. She wasn’t there.

“She left a little while ago,” Farlan’s voice made him turn, closing the door. “She told me to tell you she’d be back soon.”

Levi squinted at him, then sat back down in his chair. “Why’d she tell you?”

“I was awake and sitting right next to her,” his voice made it sound like it was painfully obvious. “You really don’t trust me at all…”

“Do you expect me to?”

“I guess I shouldn’t, huh?”

Levi shrugged, spinning his knife on the table. “You tell me…”

If Levi wanted to, he could probably use his knife to cut a straight line through the thick tension in the air. If it were really possible, he probably would in an attempt to intimidate Farlan.

“I don’t want you to be angry with me…”

“You’re kidding, right? That was a joke?”

“Well, no, I just-”

“You helped people,” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, “sell human beings! You were going to sell Nicolette to some underground pervert!” He sighed in exasperation, laughing cynically. “Forget the fact about them trying to kill me, I signed up for that and there was no way they’d actually be able to go through with it. But dragging her into it like that…”

“I never told her to come! She invited herself!”

“Then why didn’t you tell her not to come in the first place? Why did you wait until Alrick was already in front of us?”

The knife wasn’t spinning anymore. It rested directly next to Levi’s hand, his fingers twitching.

“I… I didn’t want her to feel like I was leaving her out.”

Levi’s face twisted with disbelief. “So… you wanted her to feel included… so you brought her to human traffickers…”

“I… I didn’t mean for that to happen…”

“But you knew it was a possibility.”

Silence.

“You knew it was a possibility and you brought her into it.” When Farlan raised a hand to argue back, Levi continued on, “You brought her into it knowing she wouldn’t be able to get out of the situation on her own.”

“I wasn’t trying to get her hurt, Levi!”

“Lucky for you, she wasn’t! Otherwise this would be an entirely different conversation…” The knife was in Levi’s hand now, the point resting in the wood.

Farlan stared at it, sitting up straighter against the wall. “I’m sorry…”

“Prove it.”

The door swung open, a grinning Nicolette occupying less than half of the space. “Good morning, sleepyheads!”

“Where’d you run off to?” Levi asked immediately, the knife dropping flat back onto the table.

She lifted up the basket she had in her arms, showing off fruits, eggs, and a package wrapped in brown paper. “Breakfast!”

Farlan smiled, standing up. He took the heavy basket from her and set it down on the table, giving Levi a subtle side-glance.

“You really should have let us know where you went, it’s not safe-”

“I’m fine, though!” She spun around in a circle. “See? All alive, no scratches. Well…” she lifted up her leg, pulling back her skirt to show a small scratch on her calf, “there’s this one, but that doesn’t count.”

Levi scoffed, amusement evident in his voice, “just don’t go off stealing without letting someone know where you are.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” She grabbed some fruit out of the basket and took the knife away from Levi.

“What are you-?”

“Cutting fruit… Is that not obvious?”

“Levi and I can do that,” Farlan piped in, dragging up a crate to sit on that was resting by the foot of the bed.

“Tch, yeah right! Like I’d let you two work next to each other with knives in your hands. I’m not an idiot!”

“Debatable,” Levi teased under his breath.

“You’re so mean!” she shouted, laughing all the same. Nicolette flicked his cheek, then started to slice up an apple, handing the two boys one at a time as she went. It was an inefficient process, but they could tell she was having too much fun to tell her to stop.

The two boys looked at each other. Farlan offered a small smile to Levi. He gave a tight smile back.

“So, what are we doing today?” Nicolette chomped down on an apple slice, juice dripping on her chin.

Farlan shrugged. “Do we have to do something?”

“I don’t know, I just thought we could do something fun!”

“You’d think after a day like yesterday you’d want a day to rest…” Levi mumbled.

“You can rest all you want, Levi, you did all the work.” Nicolette’s legs swung underneath her, kicking the chair legs with her heels.

“I could show you guys my home…” Farlan suggested. “It’s not too far from here, but it’s a better… part of town…” he trailed off on the last bit, trying to ignore the blank look Levi gave him.

Oblivious, Nicolette beamed. “That’s a great idea! Let’s do that!” Levi sighed, finishing another apple slice. He had to say, it was nice to have a good breakfast for once.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Nic leaned forward on the table, reaching for the brown package. “Levi, I got these for you!”

Levi furrowed his eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Open it!” She shoved the package in his hands, eyes gleaming. “Open it, open it, open it!” she was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Okay, okay, I’m opening it,” Levi smiled, taking the brown paper package. He untied the string around it, the paper falling to the sides. “How did you…”

“You said you were saving up for some boots, and there was only one vendor who had nice boots, and I figured you weren’t really a brown leather kind of person…” she smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “I took them, then got the paper from the street. The string was someone’s laundry line…”

Farlan chuckled. “You really thought this out, huh?”

“Of course I did! I could’ve gotten you something too, Farley… I just didn’t know what you’d want.”

“That’s okay, I don’t need anything else.”

The two were so engaged in their conversation that they didn’t notice Levi. They didn’t notice him or his affectionate gaze, how he traced over every inch of the leather with his thumb. He wished his hair was long again so that he could hide the emotion in his eyes, but instead he just washed it away, slipping the boots on with a straight face.

“So, Farlan. Where do you live, exactly?”

 

~~~~~~~~~

Farlan wasn’t kidding when he said his house was in a better part of town. There were actual street lamps on the road, lighting the space up. He walked the other two under a tunnel into a small square clearing, houses boxing in the courtyard.

“Woah,” Nicolette’s eyes went wide, taking in all of the cobblestone buildings with sturdy doors and windows. Windows.

She followed quickly after Farlan, who began walking up a stone staircase. It split at the top, each leading to a different house. He turned left, opening the door without using a key. “If you have a lock, why don’t you lock the door?”

“Well, I don’t keep very much in here. Besides, if someone was really set on stealing something, they would just break the door down. If they’re going to go to those measures, I’d prefer they just leave my door alone.”

Levi looked around inside the house. It was spacious. There were two couches and a table between them with a real kitchen table to the side. There were cooking utensils, multiple chairs. Levi’s eyes locked on the broom in the corner, then on the dust piling around the floor.

“Farley, your house is so big!” Nicolette ran off to open another door into a different room.

Levi took in the rest of the main room. On the other side there was another lone couch with a side-table beside it, directly beneath a window.

“There’s more than one bed!” a high-pitched voice squealed. Levi’s arm was suddenly ensnared in Nicolette’s small hand as she dragged him to the back of the house. “Levi! Levi look! The bedroom has two beds in it!”

She stood in the doorway, not letting go of his arm, as she admired the beds.

Farlan came up behind the two. “You’re both more than welcome to stay here, you know. It’s just me… And I have plenty of room…”

Nicolette grinned, the one dimple on her left cheek displayed. Before saying anything, much to his surprise, she turned to Levi. It seemed as though she were asking his permission. He looked down at her for a moment, then sighed, giving in.

“Fine.”


	9. A Step Away From the Nest

“Nicolette! Wait up!”

“Catch up, Farlan!”

The two teenagers raced down an uneven street of the Underground, their boots pounding on the random stones. Dirt flew up behind them, creating a cloud of dust that lingered in the air after they left.

“How are you so fast?” Farlan gasped between breaths, barely keeping pace next to her. She grinned up at him, her short legs dashing as hard as they could.

“Stamina,” she huffed back, pumping her arms. “Plus, I weigh less. Helps me go faster.”

“I don’t think,” he paused, fixing his breathing, “I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“Like you would know, slowpoke!”

Nicolette turned sharply into the tunnel, skidding to a stop at the entrance. Her hands rested on her knees as she hunched over, body heaving for air.

“Ha!” she breathed, looking up at Farlan, who was also breathing hardly. “I won!”

For a moment, he looked down at her, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Farlan’s hand pressed on the top of her head, then knocked her over, forcing her to land on the dirt.

“What the hell!? Farlan?” she laughed, her hands spread out behind her.

He laughed, apparently having caught his breath.

“Stop laughing at me, Jackass!”

“Then don’t let me push you over, Bigger Jackass!”

“I thought reading was supposed to enhance your vocabulary.”

“And I thought… uh…” Farlan scratched the back of his head. “I have no idea where I was going with that one.”

Nicolette snickered, holding her arm up. He grabbed it, yanking her to her feet. “I wonder if Levi’s done cleaning yet.”

“Probably. He always goes faster after he kicks us out.”

Both of them started walking to the other end of the tunnel. Nicolette’s legs moved at a much faster pace to keep up with Farlan’s long strides, almost jogging despite him obviously compensating for her.

It had been eight years since the two met, and Farlan had grown immensely. She barely reached his elbow in height, and that was if she stood up straight. Levi was hardly better: the top of his head lining up with Farlan’s shoulder.

“Farley, you walk too fast,” she mumbled, jogging up next to him after lagging behind. He didn’t slow down, merely smirking. “Farley,” she drew out the last syllable of his name, whining like a child.

“Oh, calm down, Nic. We’re almost home anyway.”

The light of the square shone from the other end, brightening the dirty stones that lined the tunnel.

“I totally won, by the way,” Nicolette smirked, pushing his hip with her elbow. He rolled his eyes, smiling.

“Whatever, shorty.”

Just before they reached the other end, a loud voice called out from behind them.

“You two! Wait!” Farlan turned around first, his eyes immediately narrowing. Both teenagers’ bodies tensed, staring at the somewhat shadowed figure approaching. “Wait!”

“We’re waiting. What do you need?” Nicolette stepped forward. It was not uncommon for her to act as a sort of diplomat for her two friends. Her tiny stature, high voice, and doe-like features made her extremely inconspicuous and non-threatening, perfect to gather information.

The stranger caught up to them. He was a fat man, wearing a large coat that draped behind his knees. He wore a sort of bowler cap, and his skin was obviously darker than a sickly white. Farlan and Nic shared a look.

Surface citizen.

“Thank you very much. I seem to be lost down here, and I was wondering if you could guide me to the eleventh stairwell.”

Farlan raised an eyebrow. “The eleventh stairwell?”

“That’s the most expensive way to the surface,” she interrupted, encouraging Farlan to let her do most of the talking. “You must be a very important man to have business down here that pays enough to use it.”

The fat man’s cheeks turned red from the flattery. “Oh, well hardly, I’d say. A pretty little thing like you wouldn’t quite understand such business, as you put it.”

Nicolette grinned, stepping up next to him with a slight chuckle. “I really wouldn’t. I’m quite dense, you know. People always tell me that I’m lucky to be pretty, because I have nothing else going for me.”

Farlan resisted the urge to snort. He’d heard her say these exact lines just about two-hundred times. Talking herself down, appearing to have low-confidence, and flattering the man. All of these made her seem more vulnerable. More weak. More appealing. But all of it had to be fake.

“Well, I can’t imagine why they’d say such rude things,” he leaned a bit closer to her, following her lead as she began to walk. Just close enough for her to reach over and…

“People down here can be horrible. I hope one day I can see the surface, breathe fresh air.” The genuine hope in her voice drew a smile out of Farlan, but also one out of the fat man.

“Well, maybe someday after a lot of training. A pretty girl like you might make it up there, but some others of your kind…” he glanced at Farlan, “might not be as suited to a civilized life.”

Nicolette noticed the way Farlan’s nose twitched and how his eyes squinted, his shoulders hunched up and his body still tensed. The two made eye-contact. He relaxed.

“I think you’re right. Can I ask what your name is?” Even Farlan had to admit, Nicolette’s composure was impressive at sixteen, acting as though she were actually a grown woman instead of a naïve teenage girl. Not that she wasn’t both.

“I’m afraid not, but may I ask for yours?”

Footsteps trampled ahead of them in the street, cutting off the conversation. All three stopped in their tracks looking ahead. Dust spurred up, voices shouted, and chaos began racing towards them without being able to see it.

“What in the hell…?” Farlan murmured, slowly pulling out a knife from his waistband.

Nicolette took a step away from the fat man, pulling out her own small, curved knife from inside her shirt. He looked between the two armed people, taking a step back.

“I think I’ll just-“

He was cut off by the flat edge of Farlan’s knife pushing into his back. “Don’t move.”

The dust began to settle as the steps got closer.

Definitely more than two people…

Nic and Farley spared a brief glance at one another, nodding.

“Do you two often deal with stuff like this down here?” Fat Man’s voice quivered, standing behind Farlan obediently.

“Almost on a daily basis…” Nic replied.

Emerging from obscurity came six men, all dressed in obviously stolen surface clothes with makeshift swords. The blades were definitely from ODM gear, that much was obvious, but the handles were missing, leaving them to make their own.

“Well, well, well, would you look at what we’ve got here, boys!” one of them stepped forward.

Nicolette leaned over to Farlan, whispering, “Can we just live a peaceful life without all these cocky dipshits?”

Farlan smirked with amusement, not replying verbally.

“So we chase fatty over here, and we find Levi’s lap-dogs! What a day this is!” the obvious leader of the ground walked forward, only a mere five feet away from Nic. “This is too good to be true. You asked them for help?” he looked at the surface man, who was nearly shaking.

“They were chasing you?” Nic asked, somewhat confused. “Why would they want to?”

The shock was entirely evident on the man’s face. This girl had gone from nearly flirting to indirectly insulting him in just about a minute.

He wasn’t given a chance to reply before Cocky Dipshit opened his mouth. “He’s got stuff. We want stuff. But you two,” he looked down at Nicolette, who seemed to be incredibly shorter than him too. “Both of you mean a whole lot more than fancy clothes and a bag of coins.”

“Uh-huh. Alright, so I’m going to be honest with you, I have absolutely no idea who you are.”

Mr. Dipshit frowned at her, crossing his arms just right to avoid cutting himself. “Really? No idea?”

“Yeah. None. To me, you’re just some loudmouth nobody who waltzed up the street talking a big game about ‘what a day’ it is,” she mimicked his voice, using a mockingly deep octave. Farlan snorted, gripping his knife tightly.

“So the rumors about you being an idiot are true, huh?”

“That’s what everyone says,” she smiled at him. “But I’m sure a lot of people also told you that your shirt looked good on you. That doesn’t mean it’s true!”

The five guys behind Cocky Dipshit stepped forward. “You’re gonna let that little whore talk to you like that, Andrew?”

“Yeah, Andrew! Show the bitch what you’re made out of!”

Farlan resisted the urge to take them all on then and there. “So you called us Levi’s Lapdogs, is that right?” his voice was commanding, obviously holding more authority than Andrew.

“It’s true. You just follow him around and do everything he says!” a random guy called out.

“Interesting. In that case,” he took a step forward so that he and Nic were side by side, “how high, do you think, your chances are at beating us in a fight?”

No one answered for a few moments. “Well, you’re not Levi! You can’t take all of us on at once!”

“Yeah! You two aren’t the ones who took down four fully-grown men at twelve!”

Another guy bumped the last one to speak. “That’s a myth, idiot! No twelve year old did that! These two spread that rumor or something!”

While the five guys behind him kept talking, Andrew looked thoughtful for a moment. If he brought these two back, dead or alive, there would definitely be something good in it for him. Very good.

“Enough!” Andrew’s voice called out, silencing the street. No one else was there except for the eight standing in the road. “Wait a second…”

“Where’s the surface pig?” Farlan finished, looking around for a moment.

He must’ve slipped away….

“We’ll find him later,” the irritation in Andrew’s voice was obvious.

“Aw, don’t get too pouty, Andy! You still have us!” Nic smiled at him, twirling the knife over the back of her hand. “Besides, he can’t get out of here without this!” she took out a pouch of gold coins from her shirt, tossing it in the air and catching it with a clank. “Why don’t you go fetch your pig and get out of here?” Her bright hazel eyes seemed to become darker, narrowing.

“We really don’t want to fight, gentleman,” Farlan added with somewhat of an arrogant tone. “We really just want to be on our merry way. Dinner is waiting for us, you see.”

“Oh, really? I hope we can eat something more… tangy than last night. The chicken was a bit dry.”

“You think so, Nic? I thought it was delicious.”

“Could’ve used more fruit on the side if you ask me.”

Andrew looked at the two, beyond unsure at this point. He really did not have a grasp on what was going on. “I think… this is the part where we fight each other?”

“Do we have to?” Nicolette whined, turning away from Farlan. “I just ran a lot and my legs hurt.”

“I… I…” Andrew squinted at her, his sword glinting light from the lanterns. All of his men seemed dazed with confusion, also unsure.

“Can we maybe schedule for another day?” Farlan suggested.

“Are they psychos or what?” one guy asked another.

“I have no idea, but this is kind of creeping me out…”

“This is dumb.” Andrew stepped forward, rolling his eyes. Without any other warning, he brought his sword up in a huge arc and swung at Nicolette, lunging forward. Not breaking a sweat, she rolled to the side. Some of the hair from her French braid dangled loosely by her face, framing the childlike smile.

“Woo! Nice swing, Andy! Maybe next time you’ll hit something!”

He grunted angrily, swinging his sword again. This time, she brought up her little knife to hold it in the curve, pushing it up to hop underneath the blow. “I was right! You did hit something!”

“Are you shits going to help me or not!?” Andrew looked back at his five henchmen, an obvious spark from fighting taking weight off his body.

The street became an epic whirlwind of madness, clanging of metal on metal echoing off the buildings. Nicolette and Farlan fought individually, yet together. Back to back in complete silence, synchronized to the very breath. Six against two would hardly seem fair in any regular situation, but a lot of arguments could be made that this was no regular situation.

Nicolette was fighting with a more defensive style. Actually, entirely a defensive style. She did not make any motions herself to attack, only using her opponents own attacks against them. Despite being abnormally efficient at it, she definitely lacked a varied skillset. Farlan on the other hand was a hailstorm of many different skills. He parried some blows, returning others. He used his long reach as an advantage, even kicking out at some of the opposing fighters.

“Nicolette? Farlan?” Nicolette’s adept ears could hear the whisper from a few houses down. She barely turned her head to see the familiar black hair and the glint of a perfectly polished silver knife.

Fighting paused as Andrew took notice, three cuts on his cheek and one on his shoulder. The rest of his men were barely any better, random cuts here and there staining their shirts as they panted for air. Nic and Farley were untouched, breathing normally.

“Look who joined the party!” Andrew rasped, his mouth definitely dry. He stepped back, most of his men following suit. “The man himself. Come to leash your dogs?”

“My… dogs?” Levi’s face was entirely blank, his body seemingly relaxed. “I’m not sure what you mean, shit stain. Care to elaborate?”

Andrew’s face twitched, his breath coming back to him. “These two. Your little bitches just running around for you doing what you want! Stealing money, things, resourced. All of which don’t belong to you, might I add!”

“And who do they belong to?”

“Us!”

“I see. So you’re mad at us for stealing the resources that you stole?”

“…yes.”

“And who might you be, anway?”

“You… you don’t know who I am either?”

Nicolette shrugged. “Guess you don’t go out enough.”

“I’m Andrew… leader of the Titan Thugs…?”

Farlan laughed out loud, putting a hand on Nicolette’s shoulder to support himself as he hunched over. “You call yourself,” he gasped, “the Titan Thugs?”

Andrew’s face turned red. “Oh yeah? What are you guys? The… the…”

“Come on, you piece of shit. I have places to be. Either say something stupid or keep your mouth shut,” all snickers came to a halt when Levi opened his mouth. Thick silence surrounded them, keeping everything at a standstill.

One of Andrew’s thugs, a tall red headed boy, hadn’t backed away with the rest. This boy noticed, in fact, he was rather close to one of the lap dogs. A perfect distance. In less than a second, when everyone had their guard down, he wrapped his arm around their neck, his sword to their throat.

“We’re taking all three of you back or this one dies!”


	10. On the Edge

“Well… This is a bit unexpected,” Farlan looked down at the blade on his throat. “I have to admit, I’m even embarrassed.”

“Shut up!” red-head boy pushed the blade closer to Farlan. “I mean it! I’ll kill you!”

“Alright, alright. Cool it, ginger snap,” Farlan raised up his hands, dropping his knife in the process.

“Why are all of them so mean?” Ginger Snap mumbled.

“You’re just sensitive,” Nic replied, smiling despite the situation. She put a hand on her hip, twirling her knife before point it at Levi. “Live with this one too long and you start to forget that people’s feelings can get hurt by words alone.”

“Tch,” Levi rolled his eyes.

“So,” Andrew stepped forward, looking almost enviously at Ginger Snap’s position. “Will you all come, or is blondie over here going to kick the bucket?”

“Kick the bucket?” Nicolette squinted. “What does that even mean?”

Andrew looked at Levi, exasperated at this point. “Is she serious?”

Levi didn’t reply in any way, his face still deadpan. “I could kill all of you. Right now.” He pointed at Ginger Snap, “You wouldn’t even have a chance to move your arm an inch.”

Nicolette spun her knife, admittedly a bit nervous. Levi never taught her how to be on the offensive, strictly sticking with all defensive and responsive techniques. “Levi…”

He glanced over at her. His face was sharper than it had been when they were children, with a more defined jawline and higher cheekbones. She could see the muscles in his jaw clench briefly as he noticed the tentativeness hidden in her eyes for only him to see.

Levi looked back at Andrew, then tossed his knife into the ground directly beside Andrew’s foot. “Not today then, I suppose. I’m curious, so I’ll come back with you.”

“Uh… um…”

“Andy, close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.” Nicolette gently placed her knife down, afraid of harming it in any way. After, she walked over to the pouch of coins that had been displaced during the fight. “Oh! You can have this too, if you want!” She walked directly in front of Andrew, slipping the coin into the pocket of his overly fluffed surface pants. Their close proximity made him blush, and Nicolette knew exactly why.

“Andrew, we should probably bind and blindfold them?” Ginger Snap interrupted, still holding Farlan.

“Right! Yeah, we should do that!” he grabbed Nicolette’s wrists while someone else brought over a rope, tying them behind her back.

Another thug came over to Levi, nervously holding some rope.

“Do all of you just carry that around in case you need to tie people up?” he asked, looking distastefully at the fraying ends.

“Um… yes?”

“Hm.” He turned around and crossed his wrists behind his back, easily allowing the terrified boy to tie him up.

After Farlan was tied up, Ginger Snap walked over to Andrew. “Don’t you think this is weird?”

Andrew looked at him. “Weird?”

“Well, the three of the most infamous underground citizens just rolled over on their backs to us. They surrendered when they probably could have killed us all.”

“You really believe that? They’re obviously all talk, Brennan.”

“I just think we should be extra careful-“

“Who’s in charge here?” Andrew’s eyes flared, having to look up at the other boy. “Last I checked, it wasn’t you, Ginger Snap,” he said the name mockingly, then turned and led the group away.

Brennan scowled, sheathing his sword. “Yes, sir.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m hungry,” Nicolette mumbled. “How long have we been walking? Can we take a break? I kind of want a snack. My feet hurt too. Can any of you carry me? Ha, none of you are str- OW! Hey, part of the unspoken deal of blindfolding someone is you make sure they don’t trip on rocks!”

Andrew’s eyes both twitched frantically. “Does she ever shut up?” he asked Levi, who was also blindfolded.

No response.

“Seriously, you thugs are so unprofessional. I can see light through this blindfold, you know. If I cared enough, I could probably figure out where we are based solely on lantern distribution.”

“Could not,” the random brunette guiding her retorted, finally answering her thousandth remark.

“Could to! I’ll do it right now!”

“Nic, you’re even bugging me now,” Farlan groaned, walking calmly with Brennan leading him.

“Oh! Farley, I didn’t know we were right next to each other.”

“Talk about being observant…” the brunette mumbled.

Levi sighed, almost bored. “We’ve been walking for at least thirty minutes. How much farther at this pace?”

Andrew flinched at his voice, stammering for a moment. “Uh, we should be there any minute now.”

“Not a very exact answer.”

“I don’t have to give you an exact answer! You’re my prisoner right now!”

“Prisoner? That’s a little extreme. I mean we kind of surrendered entirely to you and you tied us up with this shitty rope.” 

“Wow, watch the language, Nic,” Farlan joked.

“It’s true. See,” despite none of the three actually being able to see, from the sudden outburst of shouting, it was quite obvious that Nicolette had, in fact, slipped her wrists from the bonds.

Several minutes later they were all walking again, rope tied around Nicolette’s ankles and wrists as she was carried over the brunette’s shoulder. She had a piece of cloth in her mouth to serve as a gag, mostly to shut her up.

“Who knew today would be our lucky day?” Andrew looked back at Brennan, a stupid grin on his face. Brennan rolled his eyes, not replying. Andrew scoffed, pushing Levi forward roughly. Levi frowned, his nose twitching slightly. “We’re here, bitches.”

“You know,” Farlan began to comment as he was walked inside, “it’s hard to take you seriously when you swear like a child.”

Brennan smirked, then continued to guide Farlan in. Nicolette’s snickers followed her through the door. After all three were inside, the blindfolds were removed. Nic was set down on the floor, her legs being untied so she could stand.

“This is our hideout.” Andrew motioned around with his hands. The three couldn’t help but notice the mustiness.

“It’s dirty,” Nicolette said, rubbing her sore lips with her free hands. “Do you guys ever clean?”

“Clean? Why would we?”

She looked over to her friends, who were finished being untied as well. “These guys. They don’t appreciate hygiene like us.”

“Alright, enough of this,” Brennan grabbed Nicolette by the hair on her scalp, a surprised shriek escaping her. “Your banter has gone far enough. I’m sick of you not treating us seriously. We untied you because you have no idea where we are and you all have no chance of escaping with all of the traps we have established on the perimeter.”

Nicolette didn’t speak, her body suspended by his grip. Her small hands were wrapped around his wrist to alleviate some of the weight while her face remained passive, only betraying minor pain. Levi and Farlan looked down at her, anger surging through their body.

“You will take us seriously,” Brennan’s voice had gone lower, pulling Nic’s body a fraction higher, enough for her to inhale sharply. Her friends took a defensive step forward, only to be immediately pulled back by Andrew and The Brunette.

“Wow, Ginger Snap,” Nicolette spoke through gritted teeth, her grip on his wrist tightening. “Who knew you were so intense. You make Andy over here look like a baby.” Brennan didn’t even look down at her.

“Hans, take her to the basement. Keep her shackled and gagged. These two boys will go to the attic.” Despite him not truly being in charge, the thugs listened to Brennan’s orders without hesitation. Andrew watched enviously, his fists clenching by his sides.

“What’s your plan, Brennan?” Levi asked, his voice the same monotonous slate. “You don’t want us dead. Do you think you can force us into following you?”

“Think? Oh, I know I can get you two to listen to me.”

Farlan raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“What’s your foolproof plan, then?” Levi added.

Brennan crossed his arms over his chest, using his thumb to motion over his shoulder at Nicolette. She walked between two men to a staircase downwards, assumingly to the basement. Nic looked at them for a moment, a familiar light in her eyes, before disappearing.

“I think you two can figure it out.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hatch to the attic closed beneath them, leaving Farlan and Levi in complete blackness with nothing but each other with them. “Levi, what do we do? We can’t leave her down there, I have no idea what Freckles is going to do to her.”

“I don’t know yet, I’m thinking. She’ll be fine for now, they’ll only use her as reinforcement for us to listen. As long as we do what he says, they won’t touch her.”

“We don’t know that, Levi… I’m really worried, this is actually kind of serious.”

“You think I don’t know that, Farlan? I’m worried too, believe me.” They both sighed, sitting in the darkness. “I want her to be okay too…”

“We can’t protect her forever, Levi… It just won’t work. You need to teach her how to fight like you taught me.”

“She doesn’t need to know how to! We’ll be there-“

“Levi! She needs to know more than just how to defend herself. She needs to know how to actually attack! To strike!”

Though Farlan couldn’t see it, he knew Levi’s face was probably aggravated. “We shouldn’t be talking about this right now. We should be figuring out how to get out of this attic to get to Nicolette.”

“Well, we know Nic’s in the basement. The two guys that brought us here are still down there, I couldn’t hear footsteps leaving.”

Levi thought for a moment, the silence consuming them.

Downstairs, Nicolette had been chained to the wall by shackles on her wrist. Still smiling, she opened her mouth compliantly for Hans to tie a gag around her head.

“Look at how well you listen,” Brennan strutted down the stairs, Andrew behind him. He had left The Brunette upstairs by the attic alone. “Not even putting up a fight. Funny, I thought you’d be going crazy at this point.”

Nicolette shrugged.

“You know, I find myself actually wanting to hear your voice. Hans, remove the gag.”

Hans hesitated for a moment, as he only just put it on, but did so nonetheless.

“You know,” she smacked her lips together, “that fabric is really rough on the skin.”

“Is it now? Not many people have tested it; your input is duly noted.”

Nic’s smile dropped suddenly, noticing the venom in his voice. “What’s wrong, Ginger Snap? Bitter that I’m not crying for mercy?”

“Hardly. You will be soon enough.” Andrew looked over at Brennan, somewhat shocked.

“This isn’t what we discussed, Brennan.”

“Well, it’s what I discussed. With myself. Doesn’t concern you at all, Andy.”

“Last I checked, I was in charge. Everything concerns me.”

Staring at one another harshly, Nicolette was left to just watching them. “So, your plan is to torture me to get an angry giant and a really angry midget to listen to what you say?”

Brennan glanced over. “I guess you could put it that way.”

“You really think that’ll work?” Nicolette snorted, the hair that was pulled out of her braid bounced on her cheeks. Her pants were starting to get dirty from kneeling on the unwashed floor, her wrists already stained from the uncleanly shackles. “You’re stupider than you look.”

“We’ll see about that…” Brennan left Andrew on the staircase, moving towards her. Hans took this as his cue to leave and went upstairs. “It would seem that you don’t understand how much those two care for you.”

“Well of course they do. We’re all we’ve got.”

“Which is exactly why,” he pulled out a knife. The glint of the metal in front of her face triggered something in her mind, something familiar. “They will do what I say if your life is at stake.”

Nicolette swallowed, staring down at the knife. “You know, you remind me of another shithead I knew, back in the day.”

“Everyone down here in the Underground is a shithead… in their own way,” he added after a pause. “But for now, let’s see if we can make your friends upstairs hear you.”


	11. Hardly Breathing

Nicolette didn’t say a word, her mouth tightly shut. She stared at the knife from the corner of her eye, not daring to move her face as he traced the edge of the blade on her jaw. “You really do look so… untouched. It’s a miracle you’ve survived down here.”

Nic’s gaze darted over to Andrew, who was watching with silent fear. Even he didn’t quite know what was about to happen to her.

“Andrew, go upstairs.”

“Brennan, I’m in ch-“

“Go. Upstairs.”

Leave. The. Room.

Alrick’s voice echoed in Nicolette’s head. A painful ache settled in her heart, remembering Farlan’s sobs and bruises.

“Go upstairs, Andrew,” she moved her head to look at him directly. “Just go.”

Her skin barely broke as it pressed against the sharp edge, but she didn’t show any sign of feeling it. Andy made eye-contact with her, and neither broke it for several seconds. Then, he turned and went up the stairs.

“Hm. Nice of you to help out with him.” Her face was still locked on the stairs when Brennan grabbed her cheeks, using the point of the knife to press between her eyebrows. “It’ll spare his innocence for a little while longer.”

“If you ask me,” her voice came out a bit muffled, as her mouth was squished, “you’re just a coward like him. You’re scared to hurt me. I don’t know if it’s because you don’t know if you’ll stop, or if you just don’t want to hear me scream.” She pressed her head forward, subsequently making him pull the knife back. “Do you want me to beg you for mercy, Brennan?”

He was taken aback by the sudden sultry tone of her voice, the way her words flew past her lips like a trap of silk. Breaking out of his daze, he chuckled. “Wow, you really are quite the seductress.”

Realizing her defeat, she slumped back. “Hardly.”

Brennan reached behind her head to grab the loose braid, forcing her to sit back up straight. Nicolette winced, but didn’t make a sound. “You will scream. You will scream loud enough for your pathetic friends to hear you. I want them to think you’re writhing in agony, all alone, with no one to come to your rescue.” He pressed his forehead against hers, not allowing her to look away. “Because that’s what you need right? Someone to come to your rescue? It happens every time you’re in trouble, doesn’t it?”

Nicolette’s nose twitched.

“Of course it does. You’re weak. They use you as a decoy whore to get the information they need, then let you sit on the sidelines to watch them do the dirty work.”

She bit the inside of her cheek.

“You don’t even know how to help yourself. You’re so dependent on them, that without them,” he brushed his lips over her ear, “you’re nothing. They could leave you. They could leave you here to rot, and you know what? They’d be perfectly fine.”

“Stop…” the single word came out of Nicolette’s mouth before she could hold it back.

“Stop? You don’t want to hear the truth then?” he pulled her braid back so that they faced each other again. “Andrew does that too. He looks at the truth, then turns the other way.” The knife went down her side, sending cold shivers up and down her spine.

“You know that you don’t have to actually do this…” fear reflected off her eyes, bringing a grin to Brennan’s face. “The threat of hurting me alone… that should be enough.”

“Are you scared of me, Nicolette?”

Her chin quivered slightly as a lump formed in her throat.

“Are you scared of what I can do to you?”

“You should be scared of what you do to me…”

Brennan paused, curiosity in his features. “What?”

“Everything you do to me, whether or not I can reciprocate it, Levi and Farlan will do ten times worse to you.”

A smirk slid up onto his face. “Is that so?”

Nicolette nodded, her face tight to avoid betraying any more of her emotions.

“We can test that out then.”

There was no warning. One minute, the knife was against her side, the next, it was driven directly into the outside of her shoulder.

Her scream was high, sudden, and obviously harsh to her throat. However, it was short. Nicolette panted, staring at the ground with tears in her eyes, trying to catch her breath.

“Was that not good enough? Here, let’s go again.”

Brennan yanked the knife out from her shoulder, a jagged exit wound. In less than a second, he jammed it down into her thigh, barely above her knee.

She screamed again, this time for almost fifteen seconds, falling back against the wall and stretching out her legs. In an attempt to get rid of the pain, she tried kicking him with her free foot, but he just grabbed it and forced it down.

“Naughty girl. That’s not very nice of you is it?”

Sweat began to drip down the sides of her face, mixing in with tears. She gasped through gritted teeth, glaring through him.

Instead of removing the blade, Brennan squeezed the handle tighter. “All you have to do is beg me to stop, Nicolette.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Don’t say I didn’t try to help you.”

The blade twisted inside her leg. Screaming is hardly an appropriate way to describe it, more like a desperate, rabid cry of sheer torment.

“Beg for me to stop, Nicolette,” he pushed the knife until the hilt pressed against her skin.

Sobs echoed off the wall, her face contorted with pain.

“Nothing?”

Her head rolled to one side, leaning against her own shoulder as spots filled her vision.

“Alright then. Round four.”

Brennan ripped out the knife, then shoved it just below her collar bone on the right side.

“Beg, Nicolette!” his eyes were psychotic, crazed, and mad. She looked deeply into them through the tears, barely a clear image to her.

His open palm connected with her face. “You’re not allowed to sleep yet, Nicolette.”

She shook her head slowly, letting it loll back to one side. He slapped her again, and again, and again. Blood started to fall down her chin from a cut on her lip, and a bruise already began to form on her left cheek.

So much blood…

There were pools all around her. The clothes she’d made… stained. Her skin… discolored.

Why is there so much?

“Scream for me…”

Her eyelids fluttered as she looked up at him. “T-that’s a little perverted, Ginger Snap…” her voice was already raw from the loud screams.

He smiled at her. “Maybe this will entice you,” he grabbed a lantern from the wall, opening the glass hatch. He stuck the blade inside, watching the metal turn a light orange. “I wonder just how loud a mouth you’ll have afterwards…”

Heat exuded from the knife, radiating in waves. Nicolette moved as far back into the wall as she could, her shackled clanging against their chains.

Whimpers escaped from her, coming out in rapid beats.

“Beg.”

No answer.

“Fine.”

Brennan grabbed the side of Nicolette’s face and shoved it down into the dirt. The more she struggled, the harder he rubbed her face into the stone until she laid still.

“This will hurt. A lot. Try to be loud for me.”

“Fuck you,” she cried, her wet face causing dust to stick to it. “You’ll regret this. All of this!”

He didn’t care enough to reply. It intrigued him more how the flat side of the searing knife burned through her shirt, exposing the flawless skin of her back. She wailed in absolute torture, squirming on the ground.

“Levi! Farlan!” she called out, her voice at its top volume.

“Sorry, say that again, Nicolette, I don’t think they heard you.”

Her eyes had already shut entirely. She was unconscious, steam rising from the ruined skin on her back. Blood was caked around her.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Brennan whispered, standing up then leaving.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Farlan and Levi had still been planning an escape when the first scream reached their ears. Both of their hearts stopped entirely.

“No, they can’t be,” Farlan whispered. Levi’s entire mind froze, his body stopped moving.

“Nicolette!” he shouted, banging on the floor beneath them. “Nicolette!”

Farlan started searching around blindly for the hatch, kicking down on it with his heel. Then the second scream came, longer and louder than the first.

Farlan cried out as he kicked the hatch over and over, but it didn’t budge. Levi pounded on every square inch of the floor, hoping for a single weak spot. Not one.

“Don’t touch her, you rotten pieces of shit!” Levi yelled louder.

“Stop hurting her, we’ll do anything!” Farlan added, his voice cracking.

Then came the third scream. They stopped their movement, absorbed in the animalistic suffering echoed in her voice. “Nicolette…” Levi whispered.

Since the two had met, it wasn’t difficult to see that the two were very close. Even though they had never quite had a moment where they exposed every one of their secrets, their lives before meeting, they shared an understanding that went beyond normal companionship.

In the eight years since they’d met, Levi and Nicolette were inseparable. If they did things away from each other, it wouldn’t last longer than an afternoon. Despite his harsh words and seemingly apathetic attitude, he cared for her more than anything. To him, she was still the girl he saved in the alley.

“Levi, we have to help her! They’re torturing her down there!” Farlan’s voice was breaking, and Levi knew he was crying.

The years had brought all three of them closer, but what really held them together was the girl downstairs.

“Levi! Farlan!” her voice called out to them in desperation. The words tore through both of their hearts as they sat on the floor in defeat, tears in both of their eyes.

“Nicolette…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brennan held the dirtied knife loosely in his right hand, letting it dangle by his side as he held up a lantern with his free hand. “How’d they do?”

The Brunette eyed him, shrugging. “Went berserk at first. Gave up after they realized there was no way out.”

“Perfect.” The Brunette lowered the ladder for him, unlocking the hatch.

“Be careful. It wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to kill you on the spot.”

“I’m not worried. They’ll worship the ground I walk on.”

Brennan stepped up the rungs, emerging into the attic. His lantern gave off enough light to show Levi and Farlan against the far wall, looking at him with a mix of unadulterated loathing and fury.

“You motherfucker,” Farlan’s usually calm voice shook with rage.

“Is that any way to talk to your superior?” Brennan waved the knife around. Some of Nicolette’s blistered skin stuck to it, blood dried and cracked on the edges.

Levi’s entire body quivered with ferocity. “What did you do to her?”

Brennan tapped his chin. “It’s more fun if I don’t tell you. Leaves everything to the imagination.”

“What do you want from us, huh?” Levi stood up, his hands clenched by his sides. “Want us to follow you around, call you our leader? Do your dirty work?”

“Sounds about right.”

Farlan’s face contorted. “Then let her go! We’ll do it! We’ll do anything, just let her out of there!”

Brennan smirked. “No. Consider it…” he tapped his chin with the blade, “insurance.”

He threw the knife to the floor at Levi’s feet, taking the lantern with him as he shut the hatch.


	12. Hide

Nicolette, Farlan, and Levi sat together in the house. All shared one couch, Nicolette on the outer edge with her legs reaching across the two boys’ laps. Levi’s elbows rested on her thighs, meticulously cleaning his knife. Farlan had a book resting on her ankles, using the sides of her feet as a stand.

Nic sighed, staring at the ceiling. “I’m bored.”

“Find something to do,” Levi replied, glancing down at her.

“I’m complaining. That’s something to do.”

Levi’s one-sided smile pulled on his lips. “Find something productive to do.”

“But I don’t want to get up,” she whined, stretching her arm to poke Levi’s cheek with her finger.

He sighed, putting the knife down on the table in front of them. Standing up, he knocked over Nicolette’s legs, also disturbing Farlan’s reading.

“Levi!” Farlan groaned, picking his book off the floor.

“You can read about engineering later, Farley,” Nic teased, standing up too. “What are we gonna do, Levi?”

“Spar.”

Nicolette’s eyes widened. “You mean, you’ll teach me how to fight?”

He shrugged. “You’re twelve. That’s when I started to learn and that’s when I taught Farlan.”

She grinned, practically hopping up and down. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Dashing to the kitchen, she grabbed one of the chef’s knives, large and broad.

Levi and Farlan both squinted at it, eyebrows raised. “No.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not doing anything with that,” Farlan walked over and took the knife, returning it to the kitchen. “It’s too big. It wouldn’t suit your fighting style.”

“Do I even have a fighting style?”

“You’re about to.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicolette’s eyes cracked open, the memory escaping her dream. Her face was still pressed on the floor, her body feeling hot and crushed. Exhaustion oozed from every inch of her body, absorbing her in a foggy consciousness. She sighed, her throat pained and raw.

“You’re awake?” a voice came from across the room. Nicolette didn’t move her head, only shifting her eyes a fraction to the left. Andrew was holding a lantern, seated in a chair. “I thought you died for a second there.”

She didn’t say anything, watching him. Her breaths were raspy and weak, blowing up dust around her face.

“I’m sorry about Brennan. He’s always been a little,” he motioned around his head, “off.”

You’re talking about it like all he did was yell at me…

“Yeah, my brother always had a knack for the spotlight…”

Nic’s eyes opened further momentarily, genuinely surprised.

“I know, I know, we don’t look it. Don’t even act like it,” Andrew leaned back in the chair. “We’re twins. Mom died giving birth, dad was never around.”

Nicolette wanted to let him know that he didn’t need to say any of this, but she felt too tired to move her mouth.

“He always wanted to be in charge. I went off and started a gang, he joined me for the fun of it. I never really ran this place.”

His hand brushed through his curly brown hair. Nic really couldn’t put it together. Both of them were so different.

“I guess I just wanted to pretend I was good at something.”

Nicolette looked thoughtfully at him. “Are you going to get me out?” she croaked, barely forming words at all.

“Unfortunately, that’s something I really can’t do…”

She squinted at him, but didn’t question it.

“Brennan will be back down soon. He wants to make sure you don’t have enough time to recover at all…” his voice was quieter, softer, almost scared. “He won’t kill you…”

“But he’ll make me wish I were dead,” she finished, closing her eyes again. “Don’t get in trouble, Andy. Tell Levi and Farlan that I’ll be okay. Tell them to get out of here first, then worry about me later.”

Andrew frowned, staring at the peeled skin on her back. A large patch was missing entirely, pink skin and red blisters surrounding it. The ground around her was stained red, turning brown as the blood dried.

“I will.”

“Thank you.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Andrew went back upstairs, making his way to the attic. No one stepped in his way or questioned where he was going. It wasn’t because they respected him or assumed he had an agenda; they just didn’t care.

He counted the steps in his head, coming underneath the attic hatch. The Brunette was still there, seemingly unmoving.

“Joseph, bring the ladder down.”

Joseph stared at him for a moment. “Brennan said not to let anyone up there.”

“Brennan’s not in charge is he?” Andrew threw the line out. Anyone could see that the answer to that question was yes, Brennan is in charge. As far as authority went anyway.

Joseph scoffed and rolled his eyes but pulled the ladder down regardless. Andy gave him a sharp look, then climbed up the rungs, holding his lantern out in front of him. He closed the hatch, the lantern a dim source of light in the blackness.

Levi and Farlan sat across from where he stood, staring at him with demonic glares. In between them was Brennan’s knife, Nicolette’s skin attached to it.

Andrew gulped, the image grotesque. “I wanted to talk to you about Nicolette…” he started.

Levi hopped to his feet, striding towards Andy. Instead of aggression, worry prevailed in his display. “Is she alright? How badly did he hurt her? Is she alive?”

Farlan stood up too, walking to stand behind Levi. “Did he…?” the phrase didn’t have to be finished for all the boys to understand what he meant.

“No… no, not yet anyway,” Andrew looked down. “When I went to look at her, she had three stab wounds and a burn. Her face was pretty beat up too.”

“Where did he stab her?” Levi pressed, moving closer. His movements were almost rabid, shaking with concern.

“Her left shoulder, her left thigh, and just beneath her right collar bone. From what I could tell, he missed the artery on her thigh.”

Farlan and Levi shared a glance. “The burn?” Farlan asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Her back…”

Levi exhaled, rubbing the back of his undercut. “Is she… is she awake?”

“She was unconscious when I went down there, and had been since Brennan left. But she woke up after a few minutes. I wouldn’t say she’s delirious…” Andrew looked up at them. “She told me to tell you that she’ll be okay and that you two should get out first before worrying about her.”

Levi snorted. “Yeah, right. No way in hell are we leaving her down there!”

“If only I hadn’t let my guard down,” Farlan mumbled.

“More like if only we’d taken these asshats more seriously,” Levi corrected. He bit his lip for a moment, thinking, then turned over the Andrew. “Why are you telling us this? Spying? Torturing us in your own way?” He grabbed the front of Andy’s shirt. “You could be lying about all of this…”

“I could be, but I’m not,” Andrew met Levi’s black eyes with his own brown ones. Farlan observed, impressed that neither looked away.

“Help her get out.”

“I can’t.”

“Well, why not!?” Levi shouted, tossing him back. Andrew landed on the floor, the lantern barely kept from breaking.

“I… I just can’t!”

Farlan stepped forward. “Too afraid, huh?”

“…”

“Are you scared of what Brennan did to her? That that could happen to you?”

“This is a shit fest,” Levi groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Remind me to never kick you out when I’m cleaning ever again.”

“Sure thing.”

Andrew stood back up. “I have to go back down now. I’ll try to prevent her from getting hurt again as long as I can, but if you couldn’t tell, Brennan doesn’t really listen to me.”

“Thank you,” Farlan said quietly, going back to the spot they’d been sitting in. Levi stayed in his spot, watching as Andrew knocked on the hatch. Joseph opened it beneath them, and just like that, they were submerged in darkness again.

“Goddammit…” Levi cursed, moving slowly back to Farlan, sliding down the wall. “Fucking fuck, fuck!”

“Remember your words, Levi,” Farlan deadpanned. “We have to get her out of there…”

“Yeah, no shit!” Levi gripped his knees, digging his nails through his pants. “He could rape her, Farlan. He said ‘not yet’. That means he could…” his face contorted aggressively, “I want to kill him.”

“You and me both, Levi.”

 

“We’re going to kill him.”

“We can’t yet… Not while Nic’s down there.”

“We’re going to…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twelve year old Nicolette stood outside in the square, holding a smaller knife from the kitchen in front of her. Levi and Farlan were several feet away, each armed with their own personal knives. “Alright, Nic! Just run at us!” Farlan called to her.

She tilted her head. “I don’t think this is the best way to learn…”

“Come on! You might be a natural!” Levi added, spinning the blade in his hand.

Nicolette sighed, “Okay then…”

With the knife pointed at them, she charged forward. With seemingly negative effort, Farlan stepped to the side, using an open palm to push her between her shoulder blades. Nicolette fell to her knees, barely catching herself.

“One of the fastest ways to learn,” Levi snickered, “Is to get knocked on your ass a few times.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Here, let me show you how to defend against that kind of charge.”


	13. Lost

Levi and Farlan sat across from each other, their eyes somewhat adjusted to the inky darkness. “We know that there’s only one guy down there guarding the hatch, I think Andrew called him Joseph?” Farlan whispered, plotting out the building in his mind. “After we climb down here, there are two staircases. We have to go down the one on the left,” he scratched his head. “If we do that we’ll be back in the room we came into. The basement is in the back right corner from the front door.”

Levi tapped his chin, thinking. “We need to get out of here first. There’s no way to open the hatch from the attic itself. And after that, getting caught would be a huge threat. We can’t exactly stroll around.”

“It’s not like we’re unarmed,” Farlan held the knife. Brennan’s knife.

“No,” Levi stated bluntly. “I’m not using that knife for anything.”

“Levi, you always bitch at me and Nic about staying strong and not being weak. Now’s the time where all that preaching counts. Don’t let your moral dilemma about this knife get in the way of saving her.”

He pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything.

”Alright, so what I was thinking-“

Farlan stopped, lifting his head up. A creak came from downstairs, along with quiet voices.

“Farlan?”

“Brennan’s coming back up,” Farlan whispered. “Get back against the wall!”

The two returned to their usual positions, almost as if they hadn’t moved at all. The knife rested between them, Levi’s hand resting near the hilt. Light poured into the room as the hatch opened, forcing them to squint while their eyes adjusted.

“Well, if it isn’t my second favorite prisoners!” Brennan mocked in an odd voice, like how one would praise a dog. Joseph closed the hatch, leaving them in the more comfortably dim lantern light.

Levi and Farlan stared up at him, not saying a word.

“So, I came back upstairs to get something of mine,” Brennan crossed his arms.

“We don’t have anything,” Farlan replied, not breaking eye-contact.

“Really? I didn’t take you for a liar, Farley.” When the response lagged, he added, “She talks in her sleep, you know. I listened for a bit. She really does think highly of you two.”

Farlan twitched at the nickname, his face beginning to scrunch up as he ignored the comment. “I’m not lying.”

Brennan leaned forward, crouching in front of the two. “Then what’s that?” he pointed at the knife. “Surely, you didn’t bring that up here.”

Levi looked away to analyze the knife. Her skin had already hardened, the blood cracking off.

“Levi,” Brennan smirked. “Hand me my knife. I think I’d like to go back downstairs.”

It took a moment to get any sort of response from either boy.

“I will gut you like a fish, Ginger Snap,” Farlan sneered, speaking through a clenched jaw.

Levi didn’t say anything, glaring at Brennan with flaring eyes.

“That’s no way to speak to your superior, Farley.”

“You can’t call me that!” Farlan stood up, suddenly towering over Brennan. “You can’t call me that,” he repeated, his voice low and menacing. Levi stood too, putting an arm on Farlan’s shoulder.

Farlan looked down at Levi’s seemingly composed face, but he knew him well enough to notice the raging depths of emotion within his eyes.

“I’m not going to ask again. Levi, hand me my knife.”

Levi looked down at the knife on the floor, then back at Brennan.

“Everything you do to her, I will do ten times worse to you,” Levi promised, bending down to gently hold the knife. He held it out in front of him, pointing the hilt at Brennan.

“Funny, she said the same thing.” Brennan took it, then stood up, walking back over to the hatch. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicolette hadn’t moved in three hours. That’s how long her face rested against the cool floor of the basement as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She couldn’t tell if bugs were crawling over her skin, picking at the wounds, or if the tingling scratches were just surges of pain.

The bright hazel of her wide eyes reflected the miniscule amount of light, sticking out in the dark. She didn’t look around, she didn’t try to move. Her mouth felt dry, like her cheeks were peeling off. Her tongue felt heavy, her eyes drooping.

The door to the basement opened slowly, barely making a sound, before closing. Rapid footsteps beat down the stairs, stopping abruptly in front of her. Nicolette looked up, Andrew kneeling down next to her.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” he mumbled over and over again, his hands shaking as he fumbled to take a key out of his pocket.

“Andy…?” Nicolette’s confused expression seemed to only increase his urgency.

“I’m going to try to get you out, Nicolette. I’m so sorry, we shouldn’t have tried to fight you… I shouldn’t have…”

“Thanks, I guess,” she rubbed her wrists behind her back, flinching at the pain below her collar bone and in her shoulder. Nic sat up slowly, grimacing harshly against the biting of her wounds. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Andrew seemed fidgety, his eyes darting all around them. “No time, not now. We have to get you out before someone realizes what I’m doing.”

Nicolette furrowed her eyebrows, but didn’t ask again. “Did you get Levi and Farlan out too?”

“…”

“I’m not leaving without them,” Nic’s voice rose, cracking from the pain, exhaustion, and exasperation.

“I’ll see what I can do, but I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t help you out of here.”

“Then why’d you bring us here in the first place?”

Andrew grabbed Nicolette’s right wrist and hauled her up, supporting the arm over his shoulders. “I don’t know… I don’t know… I just figured bringing you guys back would actually give me a reputation, you know?”

“Not really, but I guess I understand.”

He squinted at her as they slowly made their way to the stairs, her limping with all the weight on Andrew. “You mean, you guys don’t aim to be number one around here?”

Nicolette spoke through the effort. “No, not really. We aren’t like your thugs, apparently. We don’t give ourselves a name, we don’t even call ourselves thugs. We’re just a make-shift family living life.”

“Seems like a shitty life.”

“It definitely has its moments.”

They were halfway up the stairs when the wooden floors above them started to creak. Andrew paused, his breath held in his chest.

“Shit…”

The door swung open, exposing the two on the staircase. Brennan stood in the doorway, twirling his knife. “Huh. Have to admit, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting to see,” he took a step down, leaving the door open behind him. “Can’t say I’m all that surprised, either…”

Andrew’s eyes flicked back and forth from Brennan to Nicolette. He finally settled on her, looking into her big hazel eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Nic didn’t have any time to support herself before he let go of her, forcing all of her weight back onto her bad leg. She cried out in pain, falling backwards down the stairs and landing on the dirt in a heap.

Brennan’s face remained passive, analyzing his twin brother. “That was a little cold-hearted, Andy.”

Andrew looked down, breathing somewhat hard from the adrenaline and stress of his decision. He cast a look down at Nicolette, who struggled to get onto her hands and one knee, leaving her left leg sprawled to the side.

“You’re a coward, Andrew,” she murmured, staring at the floor. “You’re a real coward.”

“Shut up! At least I’m not the whore of some… some thugs! Those two upstairs, I bet they have all sorts of fun with you!” he shouted, his voice raising. Andrew started to walk down the stairs, Brennan at the top with his signature smirk.

Nicolette tried to back up, the edge to his voice worrying her.

“That’s all you are, isn’t it? Some loud-mouthed whore! You just follow them around and do everything they tell you to!”

Nic shook her head, finding herself pressed against a wall as Andrew advanced on her.

“Well, if that’s what you are, that’s how we should treat you,” he stopped directly in front of her, crouching to her height.

Brennan, who had been watching intently, glanced behind him and motioned with his hand. Someone came into the doorway, and Brennan whispered something to him before he walked away.

“We’ll have some guests joining us. It’ll be fun, don’t you think?” he came down behind Andrew. “I always knew we were alike… You were just too scared to admit it.”

Nicolette could see a rabid twitch in Andy’s face. Their noses were only several centimeters apart as he stared intensely, a strange look in his eyes.

“We’re not alike,” he said quietly.

“Oh, but we are,” Brennan knelt down too, entirely trapping Nicolette against the wall. She could feel her heartbeat picking up, fear prickling at the edges of her body. He grabbed Nicolette’s cheeks, pointing her face at Andrew’s. “I know you can just see how… how untouched she is… That’s the only word I know how to describe it with… She’s so separated from what the world is really like down here… You can see that… You want that… You want to ruin that… Don’t you, Andrew?”

Every time Nic tried to turn her face away, Brennan’s grip tightened. A visible lump could be seen in Andrew’s throat. He didn’t reply, instead moving Brennan’s hand away to replace it with his own. Nicolette glared, knowing she was completely powerless.

“What are you going to do?” Brennan taunted. She whimpered as Andrew squeezed her cheeks, pressing the inside skin against her teeth. “Call out for your friends?”

“Nicolette?”

“Oh, well here they are…”

“Nicolette!” Levi’s voice got higher as he caught sight of her. “Get away from her!” He attempted to wrestle his shackled wrists away from the two men escorting him, but they held on. “Back the fuck away from her, you steaming piles of shit!”

Farlan came down next, Joseph and another man holding him. “Nicolette…” he whispered sadly, taking her in. Dirt made its way into every crack in her face, her hair, her clothes.

Levi’s jaw was clenched in rage as he continued wrestling, his calm façade deteriorated. The dirt in her hair, the worn down clothes, the subtle defeated look in her eyes. It almost felt as if she were suddenly eight years old again.

“Levi! Farlan!” she cried, pushing herself to move forward. Andrew caught her weight, slamming her back against the wall.

“Don’t move, you little whore!” he moved directly next to her face, his lips against her cheek. “You can only do what I say you can do.” His hand made its way to Nicolette’s right shoulder, his thumb just next to her now open wound.

Nicolette’s face contorted with a mix of fear and resentment. “Fuck you…”

“Did I say you could talk!?” he shouted in her face, digging his thumb into the cut. Nicolette couldn’t hold in the scream, attempting to push herself as far away from his hand as she could. “Beg me to stop!”

“Get away from her!” Farlan tried to run to Andrew, but was held back.

“I’ll kill you, worthless bastard!” Levi roared with rage. “I’ll shred every inch of you!”

Andrew took his finger out, then looked at the blood dripping down his hand. A small smile lit up his face, evolving into a grin as he glanced from his hand to Brennan. Brennan returned the same crazed expression.

“Wonderful, isn’t it? The way something as special as a human being can be entirely at your mercy…” Brennan delicately stroked the side of Nicolette’s face with the sharp edge of the knife, leaving a light pink trail. Her breaths were already ragged.

Andrew didn’t say a word as he shoved three of his fingers into the wound on her thigh, moving them around.

Nicolette’s voice pierced through the building and the ears of every person inside as she screeched with undefined agony. “Stop! Please, stop! Please,” she screamed, squirming in her spot. Tears stuck to the point of her chin, falling down her neck and mixing with blood. “Stop… stop…”

Andrew had pulled his hand out, staring at it again.

“Motherfucker, we thought we could trust you! I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever cared about, you hear me! I’ll blind you! I’ll fucking rip your body apart with my own hands,” Levi kept shouting, not stopping in his struggles to break free. “Get away from her!”

Farlan watched in horrified silence, his mouth frozen in a silent wail.

“You wouldn’t even beg me to stop, Nicolette,” Brennan pondered. “Was I not good enough for you? Does my brother better suit your tastes?”

“Brother?” Levi mumbled.

“You sick fucks are brothers!?” Farlan exclaimed.

They were ignored. “Nicolette, you know it’s rude to leave a question unanswered,” Brennan continued.

“I hope one day,” she said softly, glaring at them both, “I’ll be in a kitchen,” everyone was very confused about where this was going, but too curious to stop her. “And I’ll see a ginger snap cookie and think,” her voice changed octaves as she tilted her head, “Huh. Both Ginger Snaps were burned to a crisp.”

Brennan stared at her. “That was one of the most idiotic answers to a question I’ve ever heard.”

“Did you expect something else,” she replied, her breaths still uneven. “If you did, I take back what I said about you not being as stupid as you look. You’re stupider.”

Andrew was still fixated on his hand, so when his brother said his name he jumped to attention. “Let’s lift this girl up.”


	14. Take me Home

“I bet you two are wondering,” Brennan stood up, strolling over to Levi and Farlan while Andrew lifted Nicolette’s wrists into the shackles on the ceiling, “why I’m not doing anything to either of you?”

Farlan watched in silent horror as Nic was almost fully suspended in the air, her toes hardly brushing the floor.

“Well, that’s because I need you two at your healthiest in order to do what I’ll need you for.”

Levi jostled his wrists slightly, trying to shake off the guy holding him. “I’ll kill you…”

Brennan shook his head. “All you have to do is listen to me, and she’ll be fine…”

“We are listening!” Farlan shouted, his voice cracking. “We’ll do anything! Please, just please let her go!”

“How sweet. Is Farley going to cry?”

Nicolette looked up, her eyes foggy. The weight of her body felt like two tons of lead, pulling every square inch of her down. Both of her hands already lost feeling as the tight cuffs cut off the circulation.

“You’re not going to stop no matter what we do,” Levi grumbled, “You enjoy this too much, you fucking sadist…”

Brennan shrugged. “You got me there.”

Nicolette sighed shakily. All of her wounds were still open as her body quivered. Blood loss was starting to overcome her.

“How are you feeling?” Andrew asked quietly, standing very closely.

Nic’s eyelids fluttered as she attempted to focus them on his face. The crooked smile didn’t seem to match the rounded jawline and the wide eyes.

“I asked you a question!” he got even closer, his smile seeming to grow larger. The angered tone in his voice didn’t match.

“I kind of feel like taking a nap,” she mumbled, her eyes shutting. “I think I’ll do that now…”

“Oh no you don’t,” Andrew brought his open palm across her already bruised cheek, snapping her head to the side. Nicolette froze there for a moment before some spit infused blood dribbled from the corner of her lips.

“Stop!” Farlan begged, almost falling to his knees as he pulled forward on his captor. “Stop it!”

Levi bared his teeth, yanking as hard as he could. “Let me go, you sorry fucks!”

Nicolette’s body started to rack with sobs. “I just want to go home…” she cried, tears piling down. “I want to go home…”

Levi stopped his struggling, his heart feeling as though it might break into millions of pieces. He’d never seen her in such a vulnerable position, so afraid and so broken. He hated looking at it. He hated it.

Brennan laughed, turning over to Nic. “You’re just so torn apart right now, huh? I love it!” He grabbed her chin, gazing into her eyes. Her whimpering didn’t stop as he moved her head to the side, touching her cheek with his nose. “You can’t do a single thing, can you? You’re just sitting here, crying… You must do it often, to be so good at it…” he dragged his tongue across her cheek, catching the trail of tears.

“Get off of me!” she screamed, wriggling her arms in the shackles. Her body protested with pain, but she didn’t stop moving. “Get! Off!”

Before Brennan moved, Nicolette had brought her right leg straight up, connecting with his chin. Farlan and Levi were even shocked.

Andrew started giggling. “Who knew you were so flexible…”

Brennan laughed too from his position on the ground, one hand rubbing the formed bruise. “That’s hot.”

The men behind Levi and Farlan were staring at Nicolette with near awe, their grip slacking on the chains. Both boys looked at each other, then ripped their hands free, jumping high enough to swing their arms beneath them so that they were no longer behind their backs.

Levi slid down the floor on his knees, coming directly behind Brennan and wrapping the chain around his neck, pulling as hard as he could. His legs came around Brennan’s stomach, preventing him from moving away.

Farlan rushed towards Andrew, bringing up his leg to kick him in the face. Andrew fell to the ground, and Farlan stomped as hard as he could on his nose, a loud crack followed by a scream echoing. He then got on the ground, holding Andrew’s arm in his hands between his legs, which were across his chest. Farlan had Andrew in an arm-bar, and was fully prepared to snap the arm clean off.

Brennan coughed as he was slowly asphyxiating, attempting to claw at Levi’s face. The thugs who were supposed to be holding them were in a state of shock, watching the brothers in their dominated state.

The cosmic effort it had taken for Nicolette to utilize her strength nearly wiped her out entirely. She couldn’t see anything, her vision black, and her body truly hung entirely from the ceiling. All she could hear were the noises of combat in front of her. “Levi? Farlan?” she whispered through bloodied lips.

“We’re here, Nic,” Farlan grunted, maintaining a tight grip. “We’re right here!”

Levi’s teeth were clenched as he kept pulling backwards, staring up at Nicolette.

“I want to go home now… Take me home…” her voice was so quiet and fragile; it sounded as though glass had shattered in the air.

Levi stopped, tears pricking at his eyes. “We’ll take you home…”

Brennan, noticing Levi’s distraction, forced his weight backwards, pushing Levi against the ground. The air was forced out of Levi’s lungs and his legs’ grip around Brennan slackened. He wriggled out, crawling away on his hands and knees.

“Get them, you idiots!” Brennan hacked, Levi still getting up. Farlan looked over, unsure of whether or not he should let go of Andrew, who was still whining about his broken nose. He glanced at Nicolette. She was unconscious, her head limp and hanging over her chest.

“Shit…” Farlan rolled off of Andrew, standing up in front of Nicolette. The four thugs behind them were starting to move forward, but Levi had already recovered and was holding them off. Farlan stared at the shackles. There wasn’t a keyhole. He squinted, searching around with his hands for some kind of latch. “How the fuck do these open…”

Levi couldn’t look over; he was too busy adapting to a handcuffed fighting style against four other people.

“Shit, shit shit…” Farlan mumbled. Finally, his finger traced over a small button on the left cuff. He found the matching release on the other side, then pressed the two simultaneously. Nicolette’s body slumped down, nearly falling before he caught her. He readjusted her as to carry her behind her back and under her knees. “Levi! Let’s get out of here!”

“We can’t yet-“

“Nicolette needs to get home! Now, Levi!”

Levi’s eyes scanned the room for a single second. Andrew and Brennan were both gone. His nose twitched and his jaw clenched, but he nodded at Farlan regardless. The four thugs were out of breath, backed away against the wall.

The two boys dashed up the steps, taking them two at a time as Farlan managed the barely noticeable weight of the third. No one was at the top of the steps, nor was anyone outside the front door.

Levi and Farlan were able to sprint through the streets of the district, unbothered. A trail of blood was left in their wake, dripping from the girl in Farlan’s arms. “She’s not going to make it,” he whispered, staring down at her sickly white face.

“Shut up, Farlan! She will!” He held back the tears that had threatened him before, not pausing in their mad dash. “I know where we are now; we’re almost at the house!”

“I see the tunnel!”

The two ran underneath it, light coming from the other end. On the steps to the house were some of their acquaintances, people they’d helped through rough patches over the years.

“Levi? Farlan? Is that Nicolette?” one said, standing up in alarm.

“Holy shit, what happened!? Is she dead!”

Their questions were ignored as Levi bashed through the door, going into the kitchen to get their measly amounts of medical supplies.

“She needs a surface doctor…” Farlan mumbled hopelessly, gently lying her down on her bed in the back room.

“I can do it!” Levi protested, running into the bedroom. He stood on the bedside, taking out his knife. He cut holes in her clothes around the wounds, tossing the fabric onto the floor. “We need something for the burn on her back…”

“I don’t… What do we have!?”

“I don’t know! Think of something, dipshit!”

“I’m trying!”

Levi opened the bottle of surface whiskey, wetting a rag with it then dabbing it on the stab wounds. It was all he really knew how to do to clean it. “I’m not a doctor, Farlan! I can’t make shit up on the spot for this!”

“Since when did I become a doctor!?”

“Since you read books!”

“That doesn’t make me a doctor!”

“Just find something!” Levi yelled, bending down to start carefully stitching up the wounds. Her skin around them was red and raw: most likely infected. He bit his lip. “We need to help her, Farlan…”

Farlan nodded, then walked out of the room. 

After he finished, Levi covered them with cleaned scraps of cloth. With minimal effort, he turned Nicolette over onto her stomach, staring at the blistered patch of her back. He saw a drop of water fall onto it, disappearing into the bumps. He squinted, and another fell. Levi brought a hand up to his face and looked down at it, tears stuck to his fingers.

“I’m sorry…” he said quietly, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry…” His head fell onto the bed next to her shoulder as he began to sob, his face scrunched up in that ugly way one’s can when they cry.

“At least we’re all alive,” her tiny voice rang out. Levi jolted up, not wiping his tears away.

“Nicolette…”

She turned her head to look at him, the energy draining from her eyes. “We’re still alive…” A smile pulled on her face before she succumbed to unconsciousness once more. Levi stared at her still face for several moments.

He took in her button nose, her small lips, her round cheeks… the way her hair framed her face even when caked with dirt…

“I’m sorry…”


	15. Old Friends

Eventually, Farlan returned to the room holding a small pot of salve. He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching Levi remain hunched over.

“Julian can take the shackles off you,” he broke the silence. It was only then that Levi realized they were still on his wrists. “He’s sitting outside on the stairs.”

Levi looked over to Farlan and nodded curtly, wiping his eyes. They were still a bit red and blotchy, but Farlan didn’t want to say anything.

“I’ll apply this to her burn. If she wakes up I’ll call out.”

Levi nodded again, standing up slowly. He walked past Farlan, through the house, and out the front door. On the steps, two men sat.

“Julian,” Levi called out. The one sitting in the middle holding his guitar turned around. Julian had become incredibly attractive. He was a few years older than Levi, about 24, but still a bit shorter than Farlan. His hair was wavy and just the right length, barely covering the top of his ears, and his eyes were a mossy shade of green.

“Levi!” Julian stood up quickly, dropping his guitar on Jan, who had been sitting next to him. “How’s Nicolette doing?”

“She’s alive.”

“I guess that’s all we can ask for.”

“Hm…” Levi shifted his weight, looking to the ground with his wrists held in front of them.

Julian smiled, tucking his hands in his pockets. “So… What do you need?”

“Can you unlock these?” Levi asked quietly, his eyes cast away.

“Sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly. Is the Levi asking me for help?”

Levi rolled his eyes at the sarcastic tone, but stared up at him. “Yes.”

Julian smirked. “Sure, I can unlock them.” From his pockets he took out two different pins, then knelt down to get a good angle on the locks. “You know, it’s always nice for me to feel like I have a job around here.”

“What, is breaking into places not enough for you?”

He shrugged. “Not many places have locks to break into.” It was only several seconds before Levi’s shackles clanged to the floor. “There you are.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t flatter me too much, I might swoon.”

On the steps, Jan snickered. “Don’t push it, Julian.”

“Shut up, Jan,” Julian’s tone was humorous as he snatched his guitar back. “Quit putting your grimy little fingers on my beauty.”

“Your beauty?” Levi repeated, the corner of his lip barely twitching upwards. “By the walls, Julian, find a girlfriend or something.”

“Pfft,” he scoffed, sitting on the thick railway beside Jan. “A woman would just drag me down. I’m my own man… doing my own thing,” he strummed a few chords.

Jan snorted. “As if you could get one on your own, Julian!”

“Shut up, Jan! You’re like, twelve!”

“I’m fourteen!”

“Yeah, like twelve! Too young to know anything about how to woo the ladies!” Julian grinned jokingly, then looked up at Levi. “Right, Levi?”

Levi’s smile had disappeared, his body turning away from them. “I’m going back inside.”

Julian bit his lip, realizing he may have crossed a line. “Keep us posted on how she’s doing, okay?”

Levi simply nodded, opening the door and closing it behind him. Farlan’s attention transferred to him as he entered the back room once more. “How’s the burn?”

Farlan shrugged. “On the bright side, it doesn’t look too infected. Bad news, it is infected. This salve will stop the inflammation and help the skin grow back, but I don’t know what it does for these kinds of bacteria.”

Levi’s eyes took in every inch of Nicolette. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed softly, more at ease, peaceful. Her eyelids twitched every now and then, as if she were dreaming. Her braid was barely intact, hardly keeping itself out of her face. The curve of her nose looked so sharp against the softness of her bruised cheeks.

“You’re staring,” Farlan snapped him out of his momentary daze.

“What’s it to you, shitty haircut?” Levi retorted, darting his gaze away.

Farlan sighed, putting the lid on the pot of salve. “Oh, nothing.”

Levi squinted at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, I mean, what are you hiding?”

“Hiding? Nothing.”

“…”

“Quit glaring at me like that, Levi! You’re starting to freak me out.”

“…”

“Levi!”

A small groan came from the bed, and both boys’ attention immediately focused on it. “Can you maybe not be so fucking loud,” Nicolette, mumbled.

“Uh… sorry…” Farlan replied, a bit shocked.

“How do you feel?” Levi nudged Farlan over so that they both sat in the chair, sharing half the space.

“Remember when you stole that Surface Drink and I took it from you and drank all of it when I was thirteen?”

Levi scoffed, “Pretty hard to forget.”

“I feel like how I felt the next morning when I woke up.”

Farlan snorted, then started chuckling. “Only you would compare this to being hungover.”

Nic laughed a raspy laugh. “I don’t have a lot of other experiences to compare it to.”

“Thankfully,” Levi whispered. “We shouldn’t be getting into these kinds of situations… it’s not good for any of us.”

“Yeah, well, we know not to roll over next time,” Nicolette’s voice was almost cynical as she turned more into the pillow, grunting from the minor discomfort of her shoulder.

“There shouldn’t be a next time,” Farlan corrected. “Levi and I will make sure of that.”

“I’m not a sack of potatoes, guys. I can help too,” her voice was muffled but still understandable. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course it does! We have to make sure something like this never has the slightest chance of happening again!” Levi almost began shouting.

They think I’m too weak… They know I’m weak… Does everyone think that? Am I weak?

“I’m not a little kid!” Nicolette began yelling back, her face still in the pillow. “I’m not helpless!”

“Then why do Farlan and I always have to help you!?”

“Levi… what are you doing?” Farlan asked quietly, shock and disbelief etched in his face.

Nicolette paused, taken aback.

He thinks I’m weak.

“Well… Well, maybe I wouldn’t be weak if you’d actually teach me how to fight!”

Brennan was right… Andrew was right… Alrick was right…

“I’m not going to do that, Nicolette!”

“Why not!? If you insist I’m too weak to help myself, then why not teach me!?”

“You wouldn’t get it!”

At this point, Nicolette had turned her head, tears of frustration lining her eyes.

“Oh, and what do I not get?”

Levi paused, and Farlan took the opportunity to step in. “Levi, go outside and stay there until I get you.”

“Why should I-“

“Levi!”

When someone who shouts frequently raises their voice, it’s not often as scary as it could be. However, when someone similar to Farlan, who prefers to think things through, shouts at you to do something, the meaning may seem a little more significant.

Nicolette wanted to sit up. She wanted Levi to stay in the room so that he could explain himself. But she did not want to contradict Farlan.

“Tch,” Levi turned and stalked out, slamming the front door shut.

Farlan sighed. “He shouldn’t have said that…”

“It’s the truth though… isn’t it?”

“Nicolette, of course it isn’t-“

“Don’t lie to me, Farley.” Her eyes were so intense that he thought they could slice through him. “He meant what he said, and you know it’s true… I’m weak… I’m helpless… If I didn’t have the two of you, I would’ve been dead years ago…”

“Nicolette-“

“Don’t tell me it’s not true!” she said softly, squeezing her eyes shut. “Don’t lie to me…”

Several moments of silence filled the room as Farlan looked to the ground and Nicolette held back her tears.

“He wants you to need him…”

Nic opened her eyes. “What?”

Farlan sighed. “Look, I don’t know exactly why or what his intentions are, but he’s just scared of you not needing him anymore,” he ran a hand through his hair. “He’s scared that if you become too independent, you’ll decide you won’t want to stay with us anymore…”

“He thinks I’ll abandon the two of you?”

Farlan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know… Ask him about it.”

“Like he’d tell me.”

“He might,” Farlan leaned closer. “He likes you a lot more than he likes me, that’s for sure. I think he’s still a little bitter about the whole… you know.”

“Human trafficking thing? Yeah, that tends to make a bad impression. He’s only a little bitter though. I mean, he forgave you and Julian. That’s a big step, right?”

“Besides that, you really should ask.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll ask.”

“Good.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicolette was ten, Farlan twelve, Levi fourteen. Nic sat at the top of the steps, watching Levi and Farlan spar in the square below. The fluidity of their movements was captivating: the way they pushed and pulled with the forces of their blows. Suddenly, Levi held up his open palm and the two stopped. Panting and sweating, Levi and Farlan started walking back up to Nicolette.

“That was incredible!” she squealed, hopping off her seat. “Can you teach me that, Levi?”

“How to fight?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes!”

“No.”

Her expression fell, a frown framing her face.

“Not yet, anyway. Maybe someday.”

The smile reappeared, mimicked on the boys’ lips.

“Fighting is dumb anyway,” Farlan used his free hand to ruffle her hair. “It’s just shows of brute strength.”

“If it’s just brute strength, then why do I beat you every time, you fucking giant?” Levi smirked, crossing his arms.

“Language, Levi!” Farlan covered Nic’s ears, but everyone was laughing. “I’m not that much taller than you, anyway!”

“I bet when we’re older,” Nicolette grinned, “You’ll be taller than me and Levi stacked on top of each other!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the door, Levi’s ear was pressed against the wood. He’d listened to every bit of the conversations, cursing Farlan for his accuracy.

“Last I checked, eavesdropping was not the best way to prove trust and shit,” Julian mumbled to Jan, still messing with his guitar.

“Shut up, pretty boy,” Levi mumbled.

“Just saying…”

“What did you even say, Levi?” Jan asked. Being the youngest, Jan really didn’t know a lot. Especially about how the original four had met. Jan had just tagged along once his family had been killed by some looters.

“…”

“That bad, huh?” Julian rolled his ankles, putting the instrument to the side.

“It can’t be too horrible,” Jan encouraged. “Come on, just spill.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Julian smacked Jan’s shoulder before he could finish, shaking his head. The not so subtle message was letting the smallest know not to question Levi any further, otherwise he’d regret it.

Levi turned his head briefly, eyeing the small child before turning his ear to the door once more. “Because I said so.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, come on, Nic! I’m not going to get that tall!”

“Sure you are! It’s not hard; me and Levi are so short!”

“Watch it, Nic,” Levi teased. She stuck her tongue out at him, pushing Farlan’s hand off her head. “Let’s head back inside.”

“Why?” Nicolette asked, drawing pictures in the dust with her bare feet. She had shoes now, she just preferred not to wear them. It drove Levi crazy, sometimes.

“I’m tired. And hungry.”

“Me too,” Farlan added. At that point his stomach growled. The three all snickered, their hands covering their mouths.

“Well, I’m not! I’m going to stay out here!”

“It’s not safe to stay out here by yourself!” Levi protested, a smile still evident.

“It would be if I could fight!” she jokingly punched the air in Levi’s direction.

“You’re not ready for that just yet,” he replied, turning away to the steps.

“Are you sure I’m the one who’s not ready?” she teased. Despite her not being serious, the question made him pause in his tracks. He thought for a moment and decided what he would say.

“You’re right: teaching you would be a handful.” Levi turned back to ruffle her hair as Farlan had done. “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

She shoved his hand away, skipping up to the front door. “I’ll learn eventually! One way or another!”


	16. Puzzles

Nicolette and Farlan were still in their same positions, one lying face-down on the bed while the other sat beside them. “I don’t want to talk to him about it,” she mumbled into the torn pillow. “He won’t answer me.”

                 “The more you say that, the more likely you’ll be right.”

                 “I’m right all the time!”

                 “Is that supposed to be a joke?”

                 Nic turned her head to glare at him, then resumed her original spot. “Shut up.”

                 He sighed. “I don’t know how to answer this for you, Nicolette. I can go get him to talk to you, if you want? There isn’t anything else I can do.”

         “You can talk to him for me,” she said sarcastically. She suddenly jolted up, excitement on her face, just for her to immediately cringe from the pain. Collapsing back onto the bed, she wheezed, “that’s actually not a terrible idea.”

         “You’re kidding me, right?” Farlan rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to solve this problem for you.” He rested his elbows on his knees, exasperated. “You have to do this yourself.”

         “Ugh! I don’t want to!” Her face nestled deeper into the pillow before she turned to look at Farlan again. “Please, Farley?” She stuck out her bottom lip, widening her already big hazel eyes. “Please?”

         “Oh, come on, Nic! That’s a cheap shot!”

         Nicolette didn’t respond, still pouting.

         “Nicolette,” the last syllable of her name was dragged out as Farlan leaned his head back. “I’m not falling for it!”

         “Please, Farley?”

         He glanced at her one more time, then sighed dramatically. “I hate you.”

         “Yay! Thanks, Farley!” she grinned up at him, the dimple on her left cheek catching his eye. He smiled fondly.

         “Don’t thank me yet. Who’s to say what I’ll actually be able to figure out.”

         “I believe you can do it! After all, who’s the grain-test?”

         “… Did that actually just come out of your mouth? Did you just say that?”

         “Uh, yeah.”

         Farlan stared at her for a moment, then shook his head in disbelief. “Alright, I’m leaving now.”

         “What!? What did I say!?”

         Farlan was already walking towards the front door. “I’ll be back soon.”

         Outside, Levi heard the approaching footsteps and quickly made his way to the stairs, squeezing himself between Jan and Julian.  
 “Hey, what the- “

         Levi nudged Julian’s shoulder to keep him quiet, trying to assume a casual position. The door behind them creaked open, Farlan poking his head out. “Levi?”

         “Huh?” he looked over his shoulder. “What is it?”

         Farlan seemed, at the least, unimpressed. “I know you were listening. Come on, we’re talking.”

         Julian and Jan shared a quick glance, both a bit uncomfortable at the forming tension. “I think Jan and I will go to the market…” Julian stood up, placing his guitar down on the railing. “See you two later…”

         Jan and Julian nearly ran away, leaving Levi alone on the steps with Farlan standing above him. “So… Nicolette sent you out here?”

         “Mhm,” he came over and plopped down on the same step, forcing Levi to move to the side. “You already know what we need to talk about.”

         “Tch, as if I’m talking about it.”

         “Fine, then you can go in there and deal with her wrath.”

         “Her wrath? What’s she going to do, yell at me?”

         “Well, when you did it to her, it seemed to hurt a lot.”

         Levi’s nose twitched. “Did you come out here to tell me off, then?”

         “Get over yourself, Levi.” Farlan leaned back against the railing, turned towards him. “I’m here for her sake. She doesn’t want to talk to you about the conversation.”

         “I heard.”

         “Damn it,” Farley ran a hand through his hair, pushing the bangs that normally resided between his eyebrows to the side. “Do you even care? Do you realize how upset she is about what you said?”

         “Stop it.”

         “Stop it? That’s what you’re going to say? Stop it? What do you want me to stop? Telling you the truth? Or do you want me to stop reminding you how things you do could affect others?”

         Levi shook his head back and forth, almost trying to block out Farlan’s voice. “Fuck off.”

         “Just teach her how to fight, Levi! We can’t protect her the rest of her life!”

         “Fuck off, Farlan.”

         “No! She needs to do this! You need to help her! We aren’t doing jack shit to protect her by making her entirely dependent on us.”  
 Levi looked off to the side, stray hairs dangling over his eyes. Levi’s body still ached, his mind was tired, and every inch of his being just wanted to stretch out and relax for a single moment. But he could never really stretch out and let his fingertips feel for the edges of the world. Not down here.

         “Levi,” Farlan continued, not backing down. “I’ll do it if you won’t.”

         “That itself could get her killed.”

         “Which is why you should do it! No more basics, no more forms, no more defensive training!”

         “Farlan, enough. I’ve made up my mind.”

         Neither said a word. Farlan’s pale blue eyes bore into Levi, attempting to find the smallest crack to widen and break into. Levi didn’t show a thing, his own black eyes narrowed into near slits.

         Eventually, Farlan sighed. “I just thought maybe you cared. I mean, after all the two of you have been through together, you may have felt inclined to ensure the best chances of her survival. I guess you’re just too selfish to consider what she wants.” He purposefully left himself out of his little accusation, putting all the focus on Nicolette. And it worked. Farley could see the sudden change of emotion in Levi’s face.

         “Stop it.”

         “You can’t just tell me to stop it every time you hear something you don’t like. You know it’s true. You’re scared for her, and believe me, I am too. But you’re also scared for yourself.” The blond leaned forward, treating Levi with the upmost sincerity and sympathy. “You’re scared that she won’t need you. You’re scared of being weak, weaker, useless. You’re willing to sacrifice her strength to feed your own.”

         Only the strong survive in this world, Levi. To survive, you can’t be anything like your mother. You can’t be anything like those runts sitting out in the street.

         Levi’s fingers began to fidget as his uncle’s words echoed in his mind.

         “Do you mean to do that, Levi?” Farlan’s voice was quieter than Levi had remembered. “Do you want to be doing this to her?”

         “No… I don’t,” he finally whispered. “I just want her to be safe… All of us… to be safe. Out of this damned place,” he gestured up to the rocky ceiling, their own prison cell. “Free… free to live however we want, wherever we want, doing whatever we want, not having to worry about our friends or food or each other…”

         Farlan didn’t interrupt, leaning back against the railing.

         “Those bastards on the surface don’t know anything. They know less than anything. Those bastards in the capitol above us are worthless pigs, feeding off our poverty… They know how we live, how we’re forced to survive… They come down here and treat us like rats.”

         The atmosphere began to heat up as Levi’s teeth clenched together, his hands curling into fists.

         “We’re right under their boots, literally. We’re being crushed by their very existence.”

         “Levi,” Farlan began, his tone calm, “right now, they aren’t our enemy. We can’t try to focus all the blame on one group of people, on one thing. We must remember that this world is one of choices, and the position we are in now, the position any single person, animal, or living thing is in… it’s all because of choices. Our choices and decisions in life do nothing more than to influence our next choice and the ones we need to make after that. All we can do is take the choices we’ve been given and live with no regrets.”

         Dirt swirled around on the cobble walkways of the square, a light draft blowing by. The lanterns were still lit, keeping them from being submerged into the inky blackness of the underground. Around them, it was silent. Not a single person was able to hear their exchange, and no one had.

         The moment felt surreal to Levi, and the world almost clicked into place for him. He’d thought he knew everything there was to know, but at this moment he realized there was still so much for him to understand. One more puzzle piece had been set in his mind, and he was only a few steps away from completing it.

         “Are you ready to go back inside?” Farlan asked, standing up and rolling his ankles. “I’m sure Nic will be thrilled to hear that as soon as she’s healed, you’ll begin to teach her how to properly fight.”

         The tone he used was almost a direction, an order, like he was telling Levi what to say. The shorter one rolled his eyes, flicking his hair out of the way.

         “You know her, we’ll have to hold her down to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself with all of the inevitable flailing.”

         “Flailing? Does she flail?”

         “When she’s excited.”  
   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         Jan and Julian walked side by side in the market, glancing side to side at the merchandise. “Stuff gets more and more expensive every day…” Jan mumbled, kicking at the loose rocks by his feet.

         “That’s why no one down here makes an honest living, scamp. You just got to roll with it.”

         A girl selling linens in a ragged booth caught Jan’s eye, and she sent him a provocative wink. The young boy’s face flushed a vibrant crimson before he focused on walking straight ahead.

         “Interested in something?” Julian asked with a snigger, his eyes pointed in the direction of the busty saleswoman. “Someone?”

         “You’re obnoxious.”

         “Yeah,” Julian trailed off, not finding a proper argument. Jan scoffed.

         “Why do you care if I’m interested? She’s just pretty.”

         “And probably a whore on the side.”

         “What are you- “

         Julian stopped walking, placing a hand on Jan’s shoulder to hold him back. He then pointed at the woman’s stall. “She hasn’t sold anything. We walk in this market every day and she’s always been there. The linens are arranged the same way as always, she’s wearing the same clothes, and her stall hasn’t moved. The prices she’s charging are too much for any sensible person, and there’s a cheaper set down the road. She likely doesn’t know much about that other seller, but it’s also likely that she scopes out here for men to lure off and trick with seemingly cheap prices in comparison to the hefty sum of her cloths. That’s how she makes her dishonest living.”

         Jan was almost fascinated by the way Julian talked without once looking away from the woman, capitated by the intensity of his mossy green eyes, the only green people ever really saw grow around here.

         “I know I’m pretty, Jan, but it’s generally considered rude to ogle.”

         “Ogle!? I wasn’t ogling!” Heat rose to Jan’s face as he resumed a brisk walking pace.

         Julian laughed, jogging to catch up. “Don’t be embarrassed: many are found captured by my dashing good looks. You’re too young for me anyways, scamp.” He nudged Jan’s shoulder, who glared up at Julian with red cheeks.

         “Still obnoxious.”

         “As always.”

         The streets were becoming less crowded as they continued, market stalls seemingly abandoned. Not only did Jan and Julian come here every day to scope out the prices and the merchants, but also to hunt for information. It was amazing what one could find out solely from listening. And while neither had Nicolette’s charming words or disarming looks, they had a relative knack for being in the right place at the right time.

         “Are you sure they’re from around here?” a quiet voice whispered from behind a silent stall. Julian and Jan made eye-contact, their ears zoning in.

         “Positive. This is just near where we actually found them.”

         Jan squinted, keeping a mental note of everything being said to fill in the gaps on his own.

         “They could’ve left the area entirely.”

         “Not with the girl in that shape… they’d take her somewhere familiar.”

         “I’m gonna kill that midget and bring back his head… he causes more trouble than he’s worth around here…”

         “Like he’s worth anything?”

         As the two unsuspecting speakers snickered, Julian and Jan stepped up to the stall, standing side by side with their arms crossed. Just beneath them, hiding under the counter, were the two oblivious idiots.

         “I’ll bet their scared out of their minds! It’s just the three of them, and now the three is down to two!”

         “It always hurts to know you aren’t included in the headcount,” Julian sighed dramatically, causing the two below him to jump and scramble backwards. Their faces melted into complete shock, regarding Julian with fear. “I suppose it makes my job easier though…”

         “Who are you?” one of the boys spoke up, a brunette. As he spoke, he took a knife out of his left pocket, brandishing it in front of him. “And you better tell me!”

         Jan snorted, tilting his head. “Are you supposed to be scary?”

         The brunette scanned Jan up and down, then smirked. “Didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders, kid?”

         Before Jan could snap back, Julian stepped up. He flourished his arms in a downward motion, two knives sliding from their sheaths within his sleeves. He sat down on the stall’s counter, towering over the seated two.

         “That’s enough of that. Now tell me your names.”

         No response.

         “Tell me who you work for.”

         No response.

         “Tell me who you’re looking for.”

         No response.

         Julian grinned. “You know, I just love these little back-and-forths, don’t you, Jan? It keeps me sharp!”        

         The brunette stood up, and the other grabbed the back of his sleeve. “Hans, don’t- “

         “I’ll ask you the questions now!” Hans stepped forward, and neither Jan nor Julian flinched. A knife was against Julian’s throat, and all he did was smirk.

         “Try not to touch the face, it’s all I’ve got going for me,” he joked.

         “Who do you work for?”

         “Just me, myself, and I.”

         “You’re lying.”

         “If you know the answer, why did you ask the question?”

         The boy on the floor and Jan both made an identical noise of exasperation. “Julian, just finish this up and quit being so dramatic.”

         Julian huffed out a loud breath, blowing directly into Hans’ face. “Fine.”

         In a single movement, Julian wrapped his legs around Hans’ waist, then threw himself backwards, forcing both over the edge of the stall and into the dirt. Hans dropped his knife, the dull edge not even grazing Julian’s skin. Julian got off the ground, handing one of his knives to Jan to manage Hans while he hopped over to the seated, shaking, terrified boy.

        “Don’t hurt me…” he begged, pressing himself back against the wall. “Please, I have a little sister.”

        “Oh? What’s her name?” Mock curiosity lit up those cat-like green eyes, but the poor boy couldn’t see the fakeness.

        “Josephine! Her name is Josephine! She won’t survive without me!”

        “Funnily enough,” Julian kneeled, holding his knife loosely, “I have a little sister too.” After a brief pause, he added, “Sort of.”

        It was almost pathetic to watch how excited and relieved the boy seemed to become after the discovered similarity. “Really? Who is she?”

        “Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you two have already met… She likes to spend her time with a midget and one tall mother fucker. Ring any bells?”

        “…”

        “Tell me your names.”

        In a nearly silent voice, he said, “Jordan… the other one is Hans.”

        “Who do you work for?”

        “Brennan and Andrew Middens.”

        “Who are you looking for?”

        “A girl and two men who escaped.”

        “Escaped from where?”

        Jordan bit his lip, tears forming in his eyes. He shook his head to signify he wouldn’t answer.

        “Aw, come on! We were getting along for a second there! We wouldn’t want little Josephine to be all alone now, would we?”

        From over the edge of the stall, a muffled conversation led to a frightened cry, then a louder conversation. Jordan winced, then blurted out, “Escaped from out base! It’s behind the abandoned house two streets away from the eleventh stairwell! The paths leading to it are rigged, and if you don’t know how to maneuver them, you’ll die!”

        “How many others are looking for them?”

        “Just… just us right now…” the hesitation in his words made Julian sneer.

        “If you lie again, you’ll be just like Hans out there. I’m sure he’s regretting being sassy…”

        “That’s not a lie! It’s just us for now… but Brennan is preparing more parties to search… he’s obsessed!”

        “Where is Brennan right now?”

        “I… don’t know. He said he would leave for a few days, we all just guessed he had some kind of work to do… Andrew is in charge at the base and refuses to leave.”

        Julian thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and took out four gold coins. He placed them gently on the ground near one of Jordan’s quaking hands, then stood up. “Thank you for your honesty.”

        “You mean…” Jordan’s voice cracked. “You won’t kill me?”

        “I’m not like your little gang. I actually like to find the value in all living things. Crazy, huh? What a concept.” He looked down at Jordan from the corner of his eyes. “But if you say anything about this exchange, anything at all, the faintest whisper or the quietest remark, the value of your life drops immediately.”

        Jordan nodded fervently, collecting the coins.

        “Use that to buy Josephine something good to eat.”

        He hopped back over the stall to see Jan straddling Hans with the knife pressed to his throat, not a drop of blood in sight. “Jan, we’re leaving now.”

        “Alright,” he replied blandly, stepping off and tossing two gold pieces to the ground. “Not a word about this to anyone, or else.”  
Hans nodded, not moving an inch.

        Jan stepped up to Julian and the two began running back to the house, taking an alternate route through the maze of alleyways to make sure no one could follow. “We’re telling Levi, right?” Jan panted.

        “Yup.”

        “He’s going to be mad, right?”

        “Most likely,” Julian puffed back. “That might be an understatement.”

        “What about Nic?”

        “She’ll probably blow a fuse.”

        “Good thing Farlan came out so we left when we did.”

        “Eh, it always works out like that for us.”


	17. Trade-Off

 “I mean, it’s just an apology?” Nicolette mumbled to herself, a small sneer on her face. “He just has to walk in and say, ‘Oh, Nicolette, what I said was completely out of line and I feel like a jackass.’ He wouldn’t though, that prideful midget…”

         “You’re one to talk,” a somewhat amused voice came from the entrance. She flinched, pinching the burnt skin on her back.

         “Who the he- Farlan!? Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She grimaced, relaxing back into the bed face down. Pinpricks of pain continued to stab at her wounds from her sudden movement, but she refrained from vocalizing it. She wasn’t weak.

         “Sorry, I’ll try to knock next time you’re talking to yourself,” he came around the side of the bed and sat down on the stool. “I talked to Levi.”

         “I’m sure you did.” Her voice was nearly drowned out by the wrinkled fabric of the pillow. “So, what’s his deal? He going to apologize or what?”

         “You could ask him.”  
   
        “I thought the whole point of making you talk to him for me was that I wouldn’t have to talk to him at all!”  
   
        “You seriously thought you would just never have to speak to him again?” The humored smirk on his face was almost audible.

         Nicolette huffed loudly, turning her head to the side to face him. “I didn’t think this far ahead…”

         Farlan refrained from his usual joke, perhaps saying “Of course you didn’t” or a joking “Am I the only one who thinks at all around here?” Instead, he sighed, not saying anything at all.

         She studied his face for a moment, the dark purple bags under his eyes weighing down the pale, sad blue. He had a small variety of bruises on his face, even worse ones on his wrists which were resting atop his knees. “Farlan?”

         “Yes, Nic?”

         “It was pretty stupid of us to just give up in the street. To let them take us.”

         “Yeah, well it’s not like we knew how crazy they actually were… I’m sure if it had been just anyone else the result would have been different.”

         “Do you wanna know why it happened?”

         The questions surprised Farlan. He raised an eyebrow, the room feeling smaller than it had before. “What do you mean?”

         She ignored his question, answering her own. “I was too scared. Levi saw that. He knew I was too scared to fight all those people, especially with you at risk. I think he might have been a little scared too, but he’s braver than I am.”

        Rough edges serrated by self-pity lined every word she spoke. From just outside the doorway, Levi could hear the depth of her words. He could feel the dark pit lined with blackness that she had thrown herself in, drowning her own subconscious in utter despair.

        “I know I’m weak. He knows I’m weak. You know it, too. Julian, Jan, whoever else. Everyone can tell.”

        The persistent hazel green of her eyes struck Farlan to his core, and he found himself lost in them as she spoke. Levi resisted the urge to step in.

        She suddenly sighed, smiling a bit. “Oh well. It can’t be helped at this point, I suppose.” Her face turned back into the pillow. “Right now, all I want is to be able to sit up straight without losing any limbs.”

        “I doubt you’ll lose an entire limb,” Farlan said, nearly quivering on each word.

        “The day’s not over yet. Who knows what’ll happen.” Nicolette flexed her legs, stretching out her calves. A light cramp clenched in the muscles, causing a grimace. “Can I go to sleep now?”

        He shrugged. “Are you tired?”

        “Not really. I just don’t feel like dealing with anything right now.”

        Farlan pursed his lips, leaning forward on the stool. “Do you want to talk to Levi?”

        From his position outside the room, Levi had his arms crossed over his chest with his shoulder pressed just outside the doorway. His face was a blank slate, seemingly apathetic.

        “Not right now, I really just- “

        “Listen up, fuckers!” Julian busted through the front door, Jan panting behind him. Their faces were both flushed red, sweat threatening the sides of their faces. “You’ll never guess what we just found out!”

         “You bastards! I almost had a heart attack! I was just about to go to sleep! By the walls...” Nicolette pinched her nose in exasperation, struggling to look behind her to see her friends.

        Levi stood up straight, his mild alarm from the intrusion gone. “What is it?” He took a few steps away from the wall.

        “Wait, you were standing there the whole time!? I feel betrayed, Farlan,” she mumbled, her nose scrunching up with annoyance.

        Jan stood up straighter next to Julian, grinning in an arrogant fashion. “We just found out what our little friends have been up to.”

        Farlan squinted, getting up. “You mean the one’s we just got away from?”

        “The very same.” Julian’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Apparently they’re out looking for you three.”

        “You’re kidding,” Nicolette groaned, her body suddenly feeling ten times heavier. “That’s bullshit.”

        “I wish it was, sweetheart. We found two of ‘em and got them to give us a little bit of insider info.”

        Farlan waved everyone into the backroom, motioning his head subtly towards Nic. Everyone got the message, so they moved in to avoid forcing her to look over her shoulder and stretch her back. “What kind of information?”

        “Why, Barley, I’m glad you asked!”

        Farlan rolled his eyes.

        The tone became more serious as Julian crouched, using his hands to accentuate his dialogue. “We found them on the outskirts of the market district. Two of them: Hans and Jordan. Ring any bells?”

        “Hans tied me up,” Nic informed, her eyebrows tightly scrunched together.

        “He also manned the hatch upstairs to the attic,” Levi added. They shared an awkward glance before Julian continued.

        “So, Jordan is a wild card? Alright, we can work with that. He told me that his was the only patrol looking for you guys, but there’ll be more soon. Jordan also said Andrew and Brennan Middens were the leaders: is that right?”

        Farlan swooped in to answer before Nicolette felt like she had to. “Yes.”

        Julian noticed the curtness in Farlan’s tone, then looked between him and Nic. Her eyes were suddenly blanker than before, but not quite unfocused. She was burying something. “Hm. I see then. According to my reliable source, Andrew is staying at their little base which is supposedly protected by traps, and Brennan is out on unofficial business. No one knows exactly where he went.”

        Jan butted in. “Hans was more likely to be higher in command then. He told me that Brennan was going to be in the west end of the slums, just across from the brothel.”

        Nicolette glanced up at Levi’s face just in time to see a flicker of distaste and mild discomfort.

        “Hans said it was some kind of trade off. He didn’t say what was being traded though.”

        Julian ruffled Jan’s hair. “Nice work, scamp!” Light pink heated Jan’s cheeks, unnoticed by everyone in the room. “We can make a plan then! What’re we gonna do?”

        Levi unsheathed his silver knife from his belt, spinning it around. “Let’s kill him.”

        Farlan bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea, Levi.” A flash of disbelief and fury crossed through sharp black eyes before Farlan interrupted his inevitable outrage. “Don’t get me wrong! I’d love to see him gutted, skinned, and hung on display for every Underground Citizen to see. But we don’t have an accurate assessment on how strong these guys really are.”

        “You saw their base, didn’t you?” Jan asked.

        “Well, sure, but not all of it.” Farlan was becoming more and more uneasy. “But who knows how many more lives Brennan and Andrew have at their disposal? We don’t even know who Jordan is, how many more could there be?”

        “That doesn’t change the fact that we should kill him, Farlan.” Levi stopped spinning the knife, light reflecting from the lantern onto the floor.

        “Yes, it kind of does. Killing him puts a bounty on us. A bounty, need I remind you, awarded by another psychopath that we’d have to deal with. Killing Brennan would be easier because we would have surprise on our side, but Andrew? Sure, he’s not the stronger of the two, but if he’s expecting us…” 

        “We can take him,” Julian assured, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “There isn’t anyone in the Underground that can beat us.”

        “Hmph,” Nicolette snorted. The boys all looked to her, stopping mid-argument. “Don’t get cocky, Julian. That’s an easy way to get killed.” Julian glanced to the floor, not meeting her eyes. “Farlan, I think you’re right, but you’re also really, really wrong.”

        “That doesn’t make- “Jan started to speak, but quickly shut himself up when Julian glared.

        “We can’t just let that psycho walk around doing as he damn well pleases!”

        “But, Nic- “

        “But, Nic, nothing!” She looked up to Levi, her gaze fierce and challenging. “I’d kill him if I could right now. Or at all as a matter of fact.” The tone in her voice was so piercing that Levi took a physical step backwards. “But I can’t. So, you will.”

        Levi pursed his lips, but nodded silently. Nicolette grinned, her eyes wide.

        “Good.”

        Farlan’s eyes darted between the two. “Ahem.” He had everyone’s attention. “When do we have to do this by, Jan?”

        Jan shrugged. “I’d say we do it tomorrow… It’s almost night time already, I doubt they’d… Wait… never mind that was dumb.”

        “What?” Julian raised an eyebrow.

        “It would actually be best to check tonight and tomorrow night. A trade off that most of their gang doesn’t know about is probably a big deal, right? It would be at night. It’s easier to hide.”

        “But down here, night time means pitch black. It’d be pretty hard for him to sneak around without a lantern to give him away,” Julian countered.

        Jan stared intensely at the floor, deep in thought as his thumb pressed into his chin. “If only we knew what was being traded…” The tapping of his boot on the floor was rhythmic, almost putting Nicolette to sleep as they sat quietly, hoping to encourage Jan on his thinking spree.

        “Let’s try to keep in mind,” Levi interjected, “all the information we have could be entirely fake.”

        Farlan scratched at his jaw, frowning. “That is a concerning possibility.”

        “Unlikely, but possible,” Julian mumbled.

        Jan sighed, aggravated. Then his eyes lit up. “Dawn.”

        “What?”

        “Dawn!” Jan exclaimed, standing up and shaking Julian by the shoulders. “It will be during the day! Dawn is when most of the merchants try to get their business done, before all the everyday chaos breaks out. By dusk, rich surface pigs are more likely to be picked clean, so they come down in the morning while the Military Police are pretending to do their jobs. It’s seemingly the safest time, and the least conspicuous for a formal looked trade deal.”

        Julian grinned, letting himself be shook around like a rag doll. “Well, look at you! All excited over solving a little puzzle.”

        “Oh, ha ha. You’re hilarious.” Jan let go then turned to Farlan. “It’ll probably be at dawn tomorrow.”

        Both intellects held eye-contact for several seconds, tensions building up piece by piece in between them. Farlan looked away first, sighing, then kneeled next to Nicolette’s face. “This is what you want?”

        She looked a bit shocked by the question, blinking several times. “I’m sorry, what?”

        “You want this? You want us to kill him?”

        “You’re kidding, right?” She looked past Farlan at Levi. “He’s kidding, right?”

        “Nicolette, be serious for a second.”

        Nic felt like she could’ve gotten whiplash from how quickly she spun her head to frown at Farlan. “I am serious. I want him dead. Deader than dead. Beat his corpse into the ground for the maggots and worms.”

        Farlan looked down, a twinge of aggravation in his eyes. “Alright.” He stood up tall. “Well, this is as good an opportunity as any, I suppose.”

        Nicolette squinted at him, picking up on the upset undertones. She bit her lip, remaining silent.

        “In the morning, then?” Julian offered.

        “In the morning,” Farlan confirmed. “Nice work finding out that information, you two.”

        “Ugh, try not to sound so condescending, you overgrown stalk of wheat!” Julian and Jan both burst out into small snickers, high fiving each other for Julian’s supposed wit.

        “Farlan.” Levi motioned with the point of his knife to the front door, and the two walked out nearly unnoticed.

        Nicolette tilted her head in curiosity, watching them talk almost animatedly in the middle of the front doorway. Despite their theatrics, their voices were beyond lower than a whisper.

        “-ou feeling?” Jan’s voice cut through her concentration, her eyes breaking away from trying to read their lips.

        “Huh?”

        “I asked how you were feeling?” Jan looked a bit amused. “I think that’s a clue right there.”

        She smiled, sitting up as much as she could while avoiding pain. “You boys make it all worse. All you do is argue and show off your muscles. It makes me sicker by the minute!”

        Julian laughed, sitting down on the side of the bed next to her legs. “Oh, you love us! So dramatic.”

        “She gets it from you,” Jan mumbled sarcastically.

        “Don’t I know it!” Julian pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “I’m so proud.”

        Nicolette broke into a grin. “Don’t give yourself so much credit, you toe-rag!”

   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The lights were all out. A comforting blackness enveloped the house, tracing every curve of the wood floors and sticking to the corners of every wall. Peaceful sounds broke the tranquility of the silence: light snores, quiet shuffling, heavy breathing.

        Heavy breathing.

        Nicolette’s breathed frantically, her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace, barely getting any air with each breath. Her eyelids were crinkled and squeezed tightly, blocking out the outside world. Cold sweat covered every inch of her skin, making the old bedsheets stick to her body.

        Inside her mind whirled twirling tendrils of an abys, and abys that seemed to overwhelm every thought trying to exist. She felt as if she were being strangled. Like she was suffocating. The inconceivable pressure she felt in her chest and in her head smothered every idea trying, struggling to exist.

        “No…” a quiet mumble passed her lips, her unconscious state threatening to overcome her. “No…” a bit louder. The boys all fidgeted. “No! Get away from me! Stop! Help me! Help me!” Her shrill voice bounced off the walls in frightened screams, her body suddenly thrashing beyond its limits in her small bed. She rolled off the edge, landing on the floor with a thud. Levi jerked awake, his eyes dashing across the room in a frenzy.

        “What the…”

        “Help me!” a terrified sob rang out from the other end of the room. Levi stood up immediately, his eyes adjusting to the minimal light from the lanterns outside. Nicolette was curled tightly on the floor, squirming in small, pitiful movements that tore the healing skin on every wound. He sped over, squatting down next to her.

        “Nicolette!?”

        “Help me! Please! Stop!”

        “Nicolette, it’s me, Levi! Wake up!” The tone of his voice increased in urgency when he noticed the tears and blood that leaked onto the floor. “Nicolette!?”

        “Leave me alone! I just want to go home! I want to go home!”

        Levi tried to touch her shoulder, hoping some sort of contact would wake her, but all that resulted in was a harsh kick to the face. He fell back onto the floor, his hand instinctually coming up to his jaw. He rubbed the sore spot for a moment, pushing away the pain.

        “Nicolette?” he spoke quietly, moving next to her once more. “Nicolette, please. You’re safe.” He put his hand on her shoulder once more. She was now lying on her back, her body sprawled in a terrified, yet seemingly exhausted manner.

        “Help me,” she mumbled. It was dreadful. Horrible.

        “Nicolette, wake up.” He shook her shoulder gently, avoiding jostling any wounds. “Nicolette…”

        Several more sobs racked from her body before a single eye cracked open. One of her hands was wrapped tightly around Levi’s wrist, the one touching her, and she didn’t plan on letting go. She couldn’t make her eyes adjust to the haziness of her tears nor to the dim firelight outside.  
          
        “Levi?”

        So small. So fragile. Easily broken.

        “You’re home, Nicolette. We’re all here. Everyone’s okay. You’re okay.”

        She sniffled, the sound almost grotesque and filled with snot. Levi resisted the urge to flinch away when she brought her other hand to his arm, both hands latched on.

        “Don’t go…”

        “I’m still here.”

        “Don’t leave.”

        “Not planning on it.”

        “Promise?”

        Levi sighed. “Sure. Promise.”

        She nodded, her head falling back onto the floor with a thud. Levi adjusted himself so that he was leaning on the edge of the bed, his arm still ensnared in hers. She lay at his feet, her torso nearly on top of his toes. His eyes slowly drooped, his head dropping back against the mattress.

        “Levi?”

        “Hm?”

        “We’ve been through a lot together.”

        He cracked an eye open. “What are you talking about?”

        He could see she was staring at the ceiling, an unfocused glaze consuming her. “I’m not sure.” She was quiet for another moment. “Can I talk about my dream?”

        Levi almost said no. He really didn’t want to hear her dream. Part of the reason being he was exhausted. Another that he wasn’t good at interpreting them. He also didn’t want to realize they shared the same fears. Nor did he want more fears added to his own growing list.

        He looked at her again, remembering when they were younger. She’d told them about her dreams before, how they’d always taken place on the surface, and how she could feel the sun in her fingertips and toes. Now it wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare. Just like the life they lived below the reach of the sun.

        At first, he nodded, then realized she wasn’t looking at him. “You can talk about it.” She sniffled again, but this time Levi didn’t feel any sort of repulsion. He just stared, waiting for her to begin.

        “I was in a black room,” she started, her hands loosening on his forearm. “I was sitting in the middle; I was tied to a chair. Water was on the floor…” she turned her head to look at him, making sure he was still awake. Levi flexed his fingers on her shoulder to let her know she could continue.

        “I was just sitting there, trying to untie myself… but then Brennan walked in…” A small crack wedged its way into her voice, shaking it like an unsteady building. “It wasn’t right though… He was bigger… his eyes were like… like a snake’s… the knife he held…” she shook her head. “It was strange… curved and jagged…”

        Levi frowned as her grip slacked almost entirely. “He kept using it on me… over and over… the water on the floor was turning red and floating around my ankles…” Nicolette seemed as though she were in a far-off world, and she felt as if that were true.  
          
        She wasn’t quite sure what she felt. If it was fear, anxiety, desperation. All she knew was that she didn’t want to be asleep and didn’t want it to be quiet.

        “Then he left. I felt like…” she searched for a word. “I felt like when I was in the basement and had to watch you and Farlan be dragged down.”

        Levi raised an eyebrow.

        “I felt helpless and hurt and wishing I could do something but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. I was tied there, bleeding out and crying…”

        “Nicolette, you don’t have to- “

        “Then the water started to rise… It went all the way up to my neck. It was all red. I was going to drown in my own blood. I could feel the pressure of the water on my chest, on my lungs. I was trying to scream… I knew I couldn’t get out, but even if I could untie myself I knew I wouldn’t be able to swim…”

        “Nicolette- “

        “And then I woke up just before I couldn’t breathe…”

        Levi’s eyes were wide and almost scared as she maintained a blank expression, and felt a certain level at unease considering if that was how he looked all the time.

        “Thanks for waking me up, Levi,” she said quietly, her hands slipping off his arm and falling limply to her sides.

        Levi sat silently for a moment, then he reached out and rested his hand back atop one of her own. “If I didn’t, no one else would be able to sleep.” The cool tone in his voice was back, but Nicolette smiled anyway.

        “Goodnight, Levi.”

        “Goodnight.”


	18. Alleyway

   Nicolette’s eyes cracked open to the sounds of scuffling boots against the dusty hardwood. Several lanterns had already been lit, the warm light filling in the dark spaces that almost haunted her the previous night. She looked around, noticing she was back in the bed as opposed to lying on the cold floor.

         Levi and Farlan stood by the bedroom door, dressed in their normal clothes with their knives in their sheaths. Levi glanced over to her, acknowledging her with a small nod without breaking his conversation. The two men were hushed, but Nic understood they were speaking about the task they had ahead of them.

         She stretched the full-length of her body. Instead of pain or the cracking of skin, she only felt stiffness in her muscles and a mild discomfort. “Good morning,” Nicolette groaned, sitting up against the wall. Her hair knotted around her face in a disgruntled halo, drawing out a laugh from Farlan.

         “Good morning to you too, gorgeous,” he snorted. “You’ve got some drool on your cheek.” Nic sloppily swiped an arm across her face. Levi rolled his eyes. “How do you feel?”

         “Less like a hungover piece of poached meat.”

          “It’s a step up!” Julian called from outside the bedroom doorway. Nicolette tried to peer around to see him, but he must have been in the kitchen.

         “When are you two leaving?” she asked, coming to the edge of the bed so that her feet could dangle and swing freely.

         “Well, we were just about to. We hoped we could get out before you woke up.” Levi crossed his arms. If he even remembered waking her up the night before he showed no signs of remembering, treating her the same way as always.

         She smirked at him. “Sorry to hold you. Go on then, be on your way! Don’t let me stop you!” She waved at him, not giving any motion to lie back down.

         Farlan squinted at her. “What are you going to do today?”

         “Oh, you know. Lie here. Do nothing.”

         “Bullshit.”

         Nicolette gasped mockingly. “You would dare use such language with baby Jan in the house!”

         “Don’t call me that!” his voice also came from the kitchen.

         “Nicolette,” Levi continued, “if you try to follow us, I’ll have Julian strap you down to this bed until we get back.”        

         She snorted loudly, then sent a jokingly promiscuous wink in Levi’s direction. Farlan smiled, shaking his head. Levi rolled his eyes again.

         “Just stay here, okay?”

         “Yeah, yeah. Sure thing.” Nic fell back against the bed. “I’ll be right here.”

         Levi seemed unimpressed. “Julian,” he turned to the kitchen, “make sure she doesn’t leave.”

         “You got it.”

         “You’re no fun,” Nicolette grumbled, rolling her ankles. “I’m not actually going to!”

         Levi and Farlan raised an eyebrow, while Jan exclaimed, “That’s total bullshit and we all know it, Nic!”

         “Language, Jan!” A smack and a loud clanging noise came from the kitchen, along with Jan apologizing profusely. Nicolette smirked to herself, staring up at the ceiling.

         “Fine, I’ll stay. Come home soon, be safe, food will be here when you get back, blah blah blah.” Nicolette smiled, then waved them off for real.

         “We’ll see you when we get back, Nic!” Farlan waved, a closed-mouth smile on his face. Levi flicked his fingers in his own sentiment, then the two walked out of the house.

         Julian walked into the backroom, wiping his hands with a washcloth. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows exposing his bare forearms without their hidden sheaths, probably to avoid getting them wet. He leaned against the doorway with a nonchalant look on his face.

         Nicolette squinted suspiciously at him. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

         He snorted. “So, when’re you going to go out to follow them?”

         She gasped loudly. “Me!? After them? After I promised I would stay put!? The amount of faith you have in my word, my loyalty to oaths I make- “

         “Cut the crap, Nic.” Julian threw the washcloth over his shoulder, crossing his arms across his chest. “I thought you were supposed to be the best one of us at sweet-talking?” he joked. “Just let me know now so I at least have peace of mind when you ‘suddenly disappear from the house’.”

         Nic bit her lip, raising an eyebrow. “You’re… not setting me up?”

         “Why would I set you up?”

         “I… um…”

         “Exactly! And I know that trying to keep you here would be impossible, unless I actually tied you up. Which, let’s be honest, would piss off Barley and the Midget more than it would sate them.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Unless they’re into that…”

         “Ew, gross!” Nicolette’s hands came near her ears as she tried to block out that disgusting, repulsive, incoherent thought. “Okay, that’s just,” she shuddered, “ugh!”

         “Oh, come on, I’m kidding!” Julian snickered.

         “What’d you do this time, Julie?” Jan walked up behind him, looking almost impatient.

         “Only tormenting me with perverted mental pictures,” Nicolette mumbled with her eyes closed, still trying to cleanse her mind.

         “You’re doing that to yourself!” Julian winked. Jan groaned, then reached up to grab Julian by the back of his collar.

         “We have to finish cleaning the main room before they get back. Stop procrastinating.”

         “Fine, fine! I’m coming!” He let himself get dragged along, making a face at Nic before he left her sight.

         An exasperated smile lit up her face as she shook her head.

         That boy…

         In hopes of positive results, Nic experimentally twisted in her spot, seeing how much the skin on her back healed.

        Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as much as she expected, but the pain underneath her collarbone was still a painful ache. Her left shoulder throbbed mildly, and the wound on her leg felt horrible.  
          
         “That might be an issue…” she muttered sarcastically, poking at the exposed, pink flesh. All she wore was her tattered shirt and sliced up pants, probably due to the rush of their lives lately. She just hadn’t had a golden opportunity to change. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she hesitantly brought her good foot down to the floor.

         It felt strange, but didn’t feel painful, so she applied more weight, slowly sliding off the sheets. Her other foot made contact, drawing out a sharp hiss of pain. Nicolette gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes tight as she breathed through the intense discomfort.

         “All good in there?” Julian questioned, only hearing the creaking floorboards.

         “Fantastic!” Nic called back. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the sheets, trying to relieve some pressure from her legs. The wound in her shoulder panged, but it was easy enough to ignore. Slowly yet steadily, Nicolette pushed off the bed, standing upright.

         Her jaw began to hurt from how tightly she clenched it, but it wasn’t unbearable. The weight of her body obviously leaned on her right side as she hobbled to the other side of the room. All their clothes were in a rather ornate dresser. Each of the five had about two outfits each for varying occasions. Nicolette was lucky, having several others at her disposal.

         From a drawer, she delicately pulled out a loose, white shirt that tightened around her wrists. The neckline was low, exposing the ugly gash on her chest, but it avoided aggravating any of her wounds. Nicolette maneuvered herself out of her current shirt, slipping the other one on as gracefully as she could. It felt cleaner, taking a certain tension out of her shoulders.  
 Beside that was one of her old skirts she’d had since she was eleven. It still fit, but it was hardly practical for anything other than looking fancy. Nic sighed, then lifted the skirt to try to find something else. The only pair of pants she seemed to have left were tight and made from black leather. Generally, she wore these to pubs when trying to caress information out of a stubborn man’s mouth.

         Nicolette shook away the thought, pushing the pants to the side.

         Skirt it is then…

         As she bent down to pull up the skirt, she was quite thankful. Pants may have been too tight for her left leg. She looked down at herself, pleased that she had been able to get dressed on her own in her current state.

         The only shoes she owned, a pair of dirtied, brown leather boots, were resting side by side at the foot of the bed. Nicolette stepped into them, their tight fit and sturdy soles providing a familiar sense of comfort.

         As she walked out of the room, Nic took her hair out of its knotted mess of a braid, then put half of it up in a ponytail. Julian glanced over at her as he wiped down the round kitchen table.

         “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He smiled. “Seeing you up and walking around is- “He paused, noticing the lower aspect of her outfit. Julian snorted, drawing Jan’s attention. “What’s with the skirt? You expect to keep up with Levi and Farlan in that?”

         Nicolette rolled her eyes. She would have put a hand on her hip had it not been for the stiffness in her arms. “The only pants I’ve got anymore are the black leathery ones.”

         “Ah, the prostitute pants.”

         “Prostitute pants!?” Jan exclaimed in shocked confusion, pausing his dusting. He seemed almost mortified. “You… you’re…?”

         Nic laughed. “Ha! No way in hell! That’s what Julian calls them. I wear them when I need to steal a few coins from an… easily distracted… person. Or if we ever need someone to say… things… they may not have said otherwise.”

         Jan squinted at her. “That’s dirty.”

         Julian smirked. “You’re too young to understand, scamp.”

         “I’m only two years younger than her!”

         “Too young.”

         Nicolette moved to ruffle Jan’s hair. “You’re still the baby around here.”

         Jan glared up at her, a childlike pout on his face. “Fuck off.”

         Both Nic and Julian cackled, making Jan turn a bright pink.

         “Alright,” she started towards the front door, “I’d better be off before I miss everything. Don’t do anything dumb while I’m gone!”

         “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go get ‘em, short stack.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

         Levi and Farlan jogged down the street, hardly attracting the attention of the early working merchants. The solid soles of their shoes pounded on the stones as they picked up the pace, noticing the increasing number of people. “How’ll we find him?” Farlan asked, pumping his arms.

         Despite his effort to keep up, Levi’s fatigue wasn’t obvious. “We’ll probably know when we see him.”

         “Are you betting on us being able to see the red hair?”

         Levi didn’t respond, instead taking a sharp left down towards the slums. The market stalls began to decay, looking more worn down. A significantly smaller number of merchants were gathered, most wearing low-hooded cloaks to hide their faces. Black Market.

         Off to one side, a figure leaned against a building, arms crossed over their chest. They were hidden in the shadows, but as Levi grabbed Farlan’s sleeve to drag him to a stop, they both recognized who it was.

         The two walked slowly down the street, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. Farlan ran a hand around the back of his neck, holding it there as he looked down at an empty wooden crate. “On your cue?”

         Levi nodded, watching Brennan from the corner of his eyes. Out of Farlan’s sight, Levi took out his knife from the sheath around his pants, holding the tip of the blade delicately in his fingers.

         I can hit him from here…

         Several moments passed in a never-ending eternity as the trade-deals continued to happen and as Brennan continued to stand alone. He hadn’t shifted at all: arms still crossed, back against the wall, one foot propped up behind him.

         Levi could feel his heart beating in his chest, counting down the seconds for him. His grip on the blade remained loose, yet in control.

         In a single, fluid motion, he spun around, bringing the knife back behind his right shoulder. Just as he prepared to throw it, Levi found himself being yanked down to the ground. Dust clouded into his eyes, stinging them briefly before he ripped himself out of Farlan’s grasp.

         He turned around, glaring daggers, but before he could say anything, Farlan held a finger up to his lips. Levi raised an eyebrow. Farlan pointed to where Brennan stood, bringing attention to four men approaching with a horseless cart.

         Two of the men dragged it behind them, while the others walked ahead with their hands folded in front of them.

         “Who the heck are they…” Farlan mumbled, squinting curiously. He got up and pulled Levi to his feet.

         The four men approached Brennan then stopped. Brennan lowered his hood, as did the others, exposing uniform undercuts. Low murmuring could be heard from across the street, but the words were incomprehensible. Levi squinted at the cart. The contents were covered by a thick tarp, but it looked as though there were several boxes underneath.

         As they talked, Brennan pulled something out from inside his cloak. Farlan’s eyes widened. “Is that…”

         The pouch was hardly a pouch at all, more like a sack, and from the somewhat reflective, yellow light coming out of the top, one could only guess how much money was inside.

         “What could be in those carts that’s worth so much…” Farlan gaped.

         Levi spun his knife several times. “We’ll wait till these four leave… then we can get whatever costs so much…”

         “Why not get the gold itself from these guys?”

         “Tch.” Levi flicked his hair out of his face, making a note to have Nic cut it later. “Look at their clothes beneath their cloaks.”

         Farlan paid closer attention. White pants. Leather belts. High boots. “Military Police?”

         “Looks like it.”

         “What could they be trading in the slums?”

         “I wouldn’t say they’re trading. They’re selling.”

         “No matter what they’re doing. What the hell could be in that cart?”

         One of the leading men took the money from Brennan, tucking it away. He motioned to the other three, and they dropped the cart, resting their hands on their knees. The front of the cart dipped down, sending the back higher into the hair. The goods inside slid down, scraping wood against wood.

         “Crates of something…” Farlan added to his own question.

         Brennan walked around the back of the cart, lifting the tarp up. Levi tried to peer around to see what was underneath, but he was at too poor of an angle. Another soldier took out a large bottle of liquor handing it to Brennan. He said something that made everyone laugh, then started to walk away. They left the cart and bottle, only taking the money.

         “Surface liquor? That shit’s hard,” Farlan whistled lowly, admiring the wax seal on the bottle. “Nicolette was gone after less than half a bottle.”

         “She’s also the size of a tall dwarf.” Levi pointed out. Farlan snorted, but didn’t comment. They turned their attention back across the street.

         Brennan was admiring his new bottle while sitting on the edge of the cart. For a while, he just sat there. Then, he took out a knife and cut the seal, popping out the cork. He began to chug the entire thing right there, not pausing to take a breath.

         Farlan’s jaw-dropped.

         Levi scowled. “Waste of good alcohol…”

         “Should we… should we get him now?” Farlan glanced over to Levi, then to Brennan who chucked the bottle further into the alley. The sound of glass breaking seemed to echo, but none of the remaining merchants even turned their heads. Brennan stumbled upright, turning around to throw the tarp off the cart. Five large crates were stacked on top of each other.

         Levi didn’t reply verbally, instead readying his knife as he did earlier. He drew it back, then threw his arm forward, the knife gliding and spinning through the air before landing solidly in the back of Brennan’s upper thigh. He fell to his knees, crying out in pain.

         “What the fucking shit!?” The street was almost vacant save for a few traders, but they knew where they were. The slums of the Underground. The lowest of the low. One spared a glance, but no one moved towards him. People here knew how to mind their own business and save their own hides.

         Levi and Farlan strode over to him, Farlan taking out his own knife. “Not how I would’ve done it…”

         “Too late.”

         Brennan turned around, his teeth bared as he gasped rapidly in pain, hand wrapped around the base of the blade. “You… I should’ve fucking known…”

         Farlan didn’t say a word, kneeling next to him. He took out Levi’s knife and held it out hilt first. Levi took it. “Been a while, Ginger Snap. Whatcha been up to?”

         Brennan pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. Occasionally his nose would twitch as he tried to grimace away the pain, but to no avail. Blood was dripping out onto the dirt in an oozing rhythm.

         “We haven’t been up to much.” Farlan gently placed a hand on top of Brennan’s head, which was met with a bloodied hand wrapped around his wrist. “Oh, great. Now I’m even dirtier than before.” Farlan gripped tightly to the curly mess of red hair, tugging it nearly out of its scalp.

         Brennan bit his own tongue to stay quiet, both hands on Farlan’s wrist to lighten some pain. Levi looked down at the two. The metallic scent of blood already filled the air.

         Levi glared intensely into Brennan’s eyes, relishing in the fear that suddenly overcame them. “Listen, you guys. I’m sure we can all work something ou- Ow!” he cried out again as Farlan lifted him from the ground with one arm before throwing him back down onto his new stab wound without losing his grip. “Son of a bitch!” He clenched his teeth together, breathing sharply. “Fuck, that hurt.”  
          
         Levi was unimpressed. He crouched directly in front of Brennan’s face, their noses a hair length from touching. “If I were to skin you, would you prefer I go top to bottom, or bottom to top?”

         Brennan tried to pull away, but Farlan held him in place.  “Please, just let me go! I’ll make it worth it! I swear!”

         “Hm, nice try, bastard.” Farlan smirked, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. “Cut the act and just accept your punishment.”

         Brennan stopped talking, his eyebrows furrowing. Then he spoke up with his familiar arrogance, “Don’t make it sound like you two are the divine, interfering with the justice of mortals.”

         Levi wiped the blood of his knife off on the white sleeves of Brennan’s shirt. “I’m glad there aren’t any gods to do such a thing. I’d much rather kill you myself.”

         Brennan grinned. “You won’t, thought, will you? You’re too afraid, just like in the street. You’re too scared to kill someone.”

         “You really think so?” Levi questioned. Farlan picked up on the amusement in his voice.

         “Don’t try to mess with me, you jackass. I know you won’t. Because that little girl has you all soft, doesn’t she?” Brennan’s face made it look like he knew it all, that he had figured out the master scheme. Hardly.

         A choked sound came from Levi’s mouth. Then he started laughing. The sound bounced off the walls of the alley and the stone road. It resonated in Brennan’s ears, chilling his blood.

         “Does this answer your question?”

         Brennan’s screams pierced the air of the Slums. The traders took their cue to leave the street entirely. Levi’s knife dragged down Brennan’s left leg, starting at his upper thigh and going over his knee, and on the inside of his calf. The entire time, the knife stayed hilt deep.

         Farlan slammed Brennan’s head back onto the ground when he tried to reach for Levi’s hands, dazing him. The dizziness didn’t stop his raw, animalistic calls for help.

         Levi took the knife out, then swung his leg over Brennan’s stomach, straddling him. Farlan used his free hand to grab Brennan’s wrists, then held them tightly.

         “I told you… Whatever you did to her, I would do ten times worse to you.”

         Levi’s knife went just beneath his right collarbone, the same place as Nicolette, but he pushed deeper. The tip of his knife contacted his shoulder blade on the other side. He then ripped it to the outside, the blade breaking free through his shoulder. Blood pooled out.

         It was sickly sweet. Levi stared at the scene before him: Brennan at his mercy, crying, screaming, completely torn down from his falsified stance of authority. In the underground, if you actually believe you’re in charge of what’s going on, you won’t last a day. No one’s in charge. Everyone’s just surviving.

         Levi flicked the blood off, then jammed it into the outside of his left shoulder and dragged it down to his elbow before twisting it all the way around.

         Farlan raised both eyebrows. “If you hadn’t had so much alcohol, maybe your nervous system would’ve given in to the pain by now, Ginger Snap.”

         His only reply was pained, labored breaths. Spit flew past his lips as he gasped, catching on Levi’s clothes.

         He leaned forward, taking note of every pained feature. “I hope you don’t regret what you did…”

         Brennan tried to respond, but his mouth only opened and closed, no words escaping.

         Levi delicately poked Brennan’s cheek with the point of the knife. Brennan stared at him in horror. “I’m going to skin you until you stop breathing.”

         Brennan froze.

         Levi stuck the knife through his cheek, letting it come out on the other side. When Brennan opened his mouth to scream, he stretched the gap even more. Two, gaping hole were left in the sides of his face, stinging from both pain and salty tears. The knife was pulled back, then the point wedged between the skin and muscle on Brennan’s face.

         Farlan watched blankly, hearing Nicolette’s screams repeat themselves over and over again in his head.

         As skin peeled off, muscle became exposed. Brennan’s cheekbone became visible, but neither boy flinched. They watched, unblinking.

         Eventually, Brennan stopped moving just as Levi cut off the last strip of skin. Brennan was mangled. Deformed. Dead. Levi wiped his knife off on Brennan’s shirt for the last time, then stood up, holding out a hand for Farlan. They both stared down at their victim.

         “Holy shit.”

         They whipped around at the new voice, coming face to face with a winded Nicolette. Her hair stuck to the sweat on the sides of her head, but she still had a lively look on her face paired with a familiar smile.

         “You two are fucking crazy.”


	19. Light

  Levi and Farlan stared at her, a bit concerned. Nicolette’s face already lacked color, but it was almost transparent, whiter than the cleanest paper they could find. She swayed a bit side to side, panting heavily from obvious exertion.

         Farlan wiped his hands quickly, almost bashfully, on his pants in a lame attempt to get the blood off. The only real outcome was smeared blood on the fabric. His cheeks were still pink from the exertion and adrenaline, a tight, well-mannered look of scolding on his face.

         “Weren’t you supposed to stay at the house?” he asked, not in his usual joking tone. Nicolette rolled her eyes, her weight shifted onto her ‘good’ leg.

         “You really expected me not to sneak out?”

         Before Farlan replied, Levi scoffed, sheathing his dirtied knife. He stepped away, closer to the boxes that were still stacked on top of each other.

         Nicolette peered curiously at them, becoming a bit more serious. “What’s in those?”

         Farlan squinted at her, still a bit upset. She almost flinched away at his disappointment, but remained in her spot, the question still in the air.

         Levi answered, “We don’t know. Brennan was buying whatever it is.”

         “Well, open it then!” Nic walked, almost limped over, her tiny frame quaking with effort. Levi and Farlan looked at one another as sweat dripped down the side of her head, a shared message crossing between them.

         “We won’t open it here,” Levi started, recovering the crates with the original sheet. “If it was worth that much money, anyone around here might see it and come after us.”

         Farlan put a hand on Nicolette’s shoulder. “We can take them back to the house and open it there.”

         Nic tried to find a way to argue, her excitement too much to withhold, but said nothing. She knew the two were annoyed with her, and she did not like that feeling. “Alright.” Before she could move Farlan’s hand, another thought came to mind. “What do we do about Ginger Snap?”

         Brennan’s dead, mangled body was still pooling out blood as if it were a decorative fountain, turning the light brown dirt a murky maroon. His arm was hardly even connected to a shoulder or his torso, and his leg looked like fileted meat, split up into different parts. His face was the easiest part to look at, merely lacking skin. Merely.

         Nicolette shut her eyes tight for a moment, that word crossing through her head.

         You’re not crazy, Nic. You’ve seen a lot, it’s okay to not be terrified right now.

         “Nicolette?” Farlan’s hand squeezed her lightly. “Nic, you okay?”

         “Oh, uh yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” She shook her head once and her eyes regained clarity. “Did you say something?”

         Levi walked between them, forcing Farlan’s hand off her shoulder. “I suggested we mince it and sell it to a butcher.”

         Nic raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t he know it’s not any kind of animal we’d find down here?”

         “People are animals, Nic,” Farlan pointed out.

         “Besides, if we give them free meat to sell, who will complain about easy profit?” Levi added. “That way, Andrew and the rest won’t be able to find his body and know for sure if he’s dead.”

         “Will that really work?” she sounded unsure, crossing her arms as they stood across from one another over Brennan’s body. “People saw him die here.”

         “People also saw a man in a cloak with no defining features,” Farlan, once again, pointed out.

         Nicolette pursed her lips, slowly becoming frustrated. “I get that, but people saw and heard this guy get murdered in a location tipped to you by one of his followers. You two understand that much, don’t you?”

         “What’s your point, Nic?” Farlan’s tone was already impatient, and the two were a few sentences from yelling their heads off to prove a stupid point.

         “My point,” she glared, “is that no matter what we do with the body, Andrew will know it’s us.”

         “That’s a given,” Levi interrupted. “We can’t expect otherwise.”

         Nicolette frowned. “So why bother hiding the body? Why not hang it up in the middle of the merchant square with our names carved into it?”

         Levi gave her an unimpressed look. “He was dealing with the Military Police. If they get involved, we can’t have direct evidence leading to us. Whether the deal was legal or not, the last thing we need is a reason for the MP to be loitering in the Underground more than they already do.”

         “As if they do any good anyway,” Farlan mumbled bitterly. Nic shot him a momentary look, still a bit peeved.

         “Fine. Do we mince him here then?” she asked.

         Levi shrugged, his face consistently remaining in its monotonous blankness. “Well, we don’t want to do it in the house, do we?”

         A small, sarcastic laugh broke the mild tension as Nic smiled. “Guess not. I’d be the one to clean it up, anyway.”

         Farlan and Levi both took out their knives and kneeled beside Brennan’s body. Nicolette looked down at them, despite only being inches, maybe a single foot, from the tops of their heads. Levi’s eyes flicked over to her once, a familiar flash within them. Nic caught it and locked eyes with him.

         Go home, the flash said.

         It was one of those rare, protective flashes that gave the slightest insight to his emotions, and Nicolette treasured those moments so much she’d hardly say anything against them.

         “I’m going to go back to the house,” Nic said, her body’s swaying pausing momentarily as she spoke. “Who knows what Jan and Julian are up to, the house might even be gone!”

         Farlan raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you at least wait for us to make sure you get home alright?”

         Nicolette pursed her lips, sass oozing from every part of her. But just as she opened her mouth to retort, Levi cut in.  
 “See you there.”

         Nic closed her mouth promptly and nodded, starting to walk back out of the slums.

         Once she was out of sight, Farlan started dragging the tip of his blade just beneath Brennan’s skin. “What’s up with you today?” he asked quietly, suddenly more aware of the other people in the alleys.

         “I should ask you that, Barley.” A ghost of a teasing smirk was on Levi’s face, barely layering on top of his apathy. “What’s up with you today?”

         Farlan scoffed. “What’re you talking about?”

         Levi shrugged.

         “You’ve been shrugging a lot today,” Farlan noted, trying to change the topic.

         Why do you shrug so much?

         Nicolette’s younger voice involuntarily echoed itself in his head. Levi looked down thoughtfully for a moment, letting his body regain control over every one of its senses before beginning to skin the other side of Brennan.

         “I don’t have a lot of answers today.”

         “You apparently do. You always have an answer,” Farlan paused, then snickered. “Even if your answer is total shit.”

         “Tch.” Despite his response, Levi was amused, and Farlan was capable of picking up on that. “You seemed a bit concerned about Nicolette.”

         A large patch of skin plopped onto the ground wetly and Farlan finished one arm. Nonchalantly he looked up, seemingly confused. “Aren’t you? She shouldn’t be running around any time soon.”

         Levi shrugged again. “Obviously.”

         “Then why is something wrong with me for being concerned?”

         “There’s not.”

         “Yeah! There’s not! So what if I’m worried for her wellbeing? We all are!”

         “That’s true.”

         “Even if I care a little bit more, which I don’t know if I do or not because how could I measure how much everyone else cares, it’s totally normal for me to be concerned!”

         Levi hid his smirk by staring at the ground. “Very sensible.”

         “And yeah I just wanted to put my hand on her shoulder to make sure that she had bandages on to prevent infection from being outside.”

         “A logical motive.”

         “It wasn’t because I wanted to be there for reassurance, because sometimes physical contact is nice when you’re feeling uneasy.”

         “Understandable.”

         Farlan finally looked over, and saw that Levi was holding in his laughter. He turned a garish shade of red, even his ears. “Not a word of this to anyone.”

         Levi didn’t reply, only sighing and letting the squelch of severed wet skin falling fill the echoing alley.

         “Is that why you called her gorgeous this morning?”

         “Shut up, Levi!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 

         Nicolette walked through the door, plopping down on the couch beneath the window. Julian looked up from the kitchen, the same washcloth still draped over his shoulder. “Find them?”

         “Yup.”

         “And…?”

         “They found Brennan.”

         Julian rolled his wrists, signaling her to go on.

         “He was a bit rough around the edges.”

         “Alive?”

         “Far from it.”

         “Good riddance, I suppose.”

         Jan came in from the bedroom with a broom, leaning on it for support as he joined the conversation. “What’d they do to him?”

         Nic propped her legs up on the table, earning groans from the two who had just cleaned it. “His face was kind of gone. I couldn’t really tell where his arm or chest began. One of his legs looked like someone’s back after getting whipped for theft by the MP.”

         “Flayed?” Jan clarified.

         “Yeah, flayed.”

         Julian whistled, pausing his wipe down of the counter. “Did it look… um… reasonable?”

         Nicolette raised an eyebrow. “Reasonable?”

         “Did they go too far?”

         “Or not far enough?” Jan countered.

         Nic stared back and forth at the two for a moment, then stayed quiet. Jan and Julian awaited an answer, sharing a quick glance of confusion.

         “There were some heavy crates they’re going to carry back,” Nic broke the silence. “They might need some help.”

         “Alright,” Julian left the washcloth on the counter and started walking to the door, pulling on his forearm sheaths that had been on the dining table.

         Jan hesitated for a moment, not as ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. “What’s in the crates?”

         “Only the Military Police and Brennan know right now. Levi said we can open them after we get them inside the house.”

         Julian shrugged. “Come on, Jan. No time for arguing.”

         Jan sighed, leaning the broom against the wall and stretching his right leg before going over to the door. “You’ll be okay here alone, right?”

         Nic gave him a questioning look. “I’m older than you, quit worrying!”

         Jan rolled his eyes, mumbling about responsibility as he walked outside with Julian.

        The door closed, leaving Nicolette in a peaceful quiet. So quiet. She leaned her head against the back of the couch, letting the light from the street glow on her face. It wasn’t warm light. It was simply light. For a moment, Nic pretended she could feel a breeze, and that the light was warm and that she could feel clouds covering it for a split second and providing shade.  
That was not reality. Her hazel eyes uncovered themselves to the dust free living space of their underground home, the only world she’d ever known.

        The underground had been created originally to escape the troubles of the surface: the titans. Nicolette had never learned about them, and she didn’t quite care to. They weren’t her problem. The project of living underground was meant to be a way to avoid the titans, but it was abandoned and left for those drowning in poverty. Ironically, that left the poor safer and more ignorant from the surface’s blight.

        Nic turned around, now kneeling on the couch and staring out the open window, no glass to fill it. The rocky ceiling above her was constricting. Her ceiling was someone else’s floor. Her limitations were someone else’s advantage. She didn’t know what to make of that, so she sat back down normally and imagined once more that the light on her face was warm.  
 


	20. Wings

The crates landed on the floor of the house with a large clank, waking Nicolette from her nap. Drool stuck to her right cheek as her hair stuck up in a plethora of different directions. “What the hell…?”

Levi had his arms over his chest as Farlan hunched over, panting. Julian and Jan were a bit sweaty, but otherwise seemed unbothered. “We brought the crates,” Levi stated.

“Obviously!” Nic stood up slowly, rolling the muscles in her neck. “Have you opened them?”

“We just,” pant, “got here,” Farlan heaved out. Nicolette smirked at him.

“Tired?”

He rolled his eyes and stood up, forcefully trying to control his breathing. Nic padded over to him and reached to pat his head, only making it to the top of his shoulder. Jan snickered a bit, Julian laughing to himself.

“Let’s open them up, then!” Nicolette exclaimed, nearly skipping to the five crates.

“Not like I carried two of them all the way here or anything. No big deal,” Farlan mumbled. Julian looked over at him, raising an eyebrow as an amused look rose on his face.

Nicolette was investigating the crates, looking around every edge to find an opening. They were sealed without an obvious top or bottom. “That’s weird…”

Jan walked over somewhat slowly, rolling his right ankle before kneeling down on his left knee. He traced a few fingers around the edges, biting the inside of his lip. “There’s gotta be something…” He could feel his nails trace over the wood and slip between a thin gap. “Gotcha.”

Nic tilted her head in a curious way as Jan lifted off one of the wooden panels, exposing a hay stuffed and cloth lined interior. “Is it fragile?”

No one answered as they watched Jan turn over and open the others.

Alone, Nicolette walked closer to the box, pulling out hay and setting cloth aside.

Her eyes went wide.

Inside was shining metal, large boxes, belts, a turbine, spare blades, and even canisters of gas.

This was Omni-directional maneuvering gear, the irreplaceable tool of every branch of military on the surface. Nicolette had heard that this is what soldiers of the Survey Corps used to fight Titans, and without it humans would not have been able to survive for so long.

Looking to her side, she saw the others staring into a different crate with matching looks of awe. They met her gaze. She beamed at them, her smile reaching her ears.

“We have ODM gear,” she stated, not breaking eye-contact. Levi’s lips twitched upwards.

“We’re gonna have some fun,” Julian chuckled.

 

 

Julian had moved the side tables so that all five sets were able to be sprawled in their own section of the floor. Jan sat off to the side on one of their chairs, a closed-mouth smile on his face. Nicolette was lifting things up to her face, turning them around and observing from all angles before picking up another piece and doing the same thing.

“This is really illegal,” Farlan whispered to Levi with his arms crossed, both looking down at the gear on their floor. “We could get Brennan into serious trouble using this stuff.”

Levi nodded. “They don’t know he’s dead and they won’t. Not so soon, anyway. They’ll assume it was Brennan’s fault and go after them.”

“We won’t even have to deal with them.”

The two looked to the side at each other and nodded curtly, then began investigating different sets of gear.

A standard set of Omni-Directional Maneuvering gear is composited of a single turbine to be placed on the lower back, two barrels containing coiled wire, wires within the barrels with hooks to attach to solid surfaces, two large boxes to hang off of either hid to sheath the swords and extra blades, two handles for sword which also control the direction of the wires and exertion of gas, and two gas canisters atop each box.

Basically, a lot of heavy equipment.

The pairs they stole had two canisters of gas for each turbine and one blade per box, leaving the other sheaths open. The boxes were about the height of Nicolette’s legs entirely, threatening to make her topple over if she dared to put them on.

Nicolette glared down at the gear, her arms crossed. Jan raised an eyebrow, and amused smile on his face.

“Why so angry at the inanimate object, Nic?” He asked, popping a grape in his mouth from a bowl.

She turned to him, her lips comically turned down. “It won’t fit me.”

“Won’t fit you? They’re all the same size!”

“Yeah, but everyone else’s body size is bigger than my body size, obviously! So, that means this one size that everyone has fits the bigger body size, but not my body size because I have a way, way smaller body size!” she huffed, exasperated.

Jan held his hands up in surrender. “You’re totally right. Idiotic of me to assume anything different.”

Nicolette rolled her eyes dramatically. “Shut up, Jan.”

Julian strutted over. “Aw, is wittle Nicolette upset because she’s vertically challenged?” he pouted at her.

One second he was standing, and the next he was doubled over after a tiny fist propelled itself into his stomach. Everyone in the house burst out into laughter, except Nicolette.

She was rather upset about this, not able to figure out a solution.

“Look, Nic,” Farlan started, wiping a tear out of his eyes from his laughing fit. “If Levi can fit into it,” he snorted, “you can too!”

Everyone laughed again, except this time Levi and Nicolette were both quiet.

“You can just not use the giant boxes,” Levi said, making everyone go silent. Nicolette glanced over at him sadly.

“But then where do the gas canisters go?”

“On your back.”

“Above the turbine? What if the wires get caught?”

Farlan tapped his chin for a minute. “You would actually be able to take advantage of your gas use more than the rest of us. It would be less diluted because not only would the canisters be upside down feeding into the turbine, but it has less distance to travel in the tubes and become diluted.”

Jan squinted. “I don’t think that’s how this kind of gas works.”

Farlan narrowed his eyes at Jan. Jan then understood the idea behind making Nicolette feel better. It’s not like she knew how gas worked.

“Oh wait… yeah it is,” Jan corrected.

“I can set your gear up specifically for you too, so the tubes that feed the gas definitely won’t get caught in the turbine. Without the boxes, you’ll also travel faster with the same amount of gas.” His eyes widened considerably. “You’d travel way faster than us anyway because you’re less than half our weight…”

Farlan stared down at the ground for a second, in seeming disbelief, before looking back up at Nic. “Is it okay if I make some adjustments to your gear?”

Nicolette looked shocked, but nodded anyway. “Why?”

“I think I can make you the fastest person using ODM gear in the history of fucking ODM gear.”

Levi tilted his head curiously, but said nothing as Farlan took Nicolette’s set and placed it on the kitchen table and began taking it apart.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It had been a minimum of two hours with uninterrupted tinkering on Nicolette’s gear. Farlan was hunched over with metal pieces surrounding him, makeshift tools stuck in his mouth, behind his ears, and in his pockets.

Nicolette sat on the couch next to Levi, half asleep with her head leaning over the back on the couch. Julian and Jan were sitting on the floor, tossing grapes at each other trying to catch them in their mouths. Levi had a clean rag and was polishing all of the new blades.

Loud clanging echoed in the room, resulting in Nicolette jumping up, almost impaling herself on a clean blade, and Julian pelting Jan in the eye with a grape. “Ow!”

“Ah, shit,” Julian mumbled, picking up a piece of equipment from the floor.

“What’s that?” Nicolette asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I think it’s the centrifugal governor,” he said through gritted teeth which were holding onto more tools.

“Sorry, what?”

Farlan placed it back on the table and took the tools out of his mouth. “Centrifugal governor.”

“Oh… what?”

“In the most basic explanation, it tops off the machine. It prevents the turbine from going past a certain speed through the gas input, and if it reaches that speed, controls the reduction of speed to avoid overload.”

“Oh. How does it do that?”

Farlan stammered, trying to find words to explain when Jan hopped in. “Think of it like lowering someone down a cliff with a rope.”

Nicolette rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because I’ve done that.”

“Alright, different example. Um…”

Farlan and Jan looked at each other trying to come up with the simplest example.

“Never mind, it isn’t that important. I was just curious,” Nic sighs, resting her chin on her hand. Levi noticed the tiniest bit of defeat in her eyes. He wished he could explain, but even he didn’t really know what it was.

“Isn’t that dangerous to remove?” Levi questioned.

“Well, first of all,” Farlan put back the tools behind his ears. “I’m just dissecting this gear at the moment. Second of all,” he picked up the centrifugal governor, “taking this out would make this set of gear the fastest gear in any branch of the military. The only problem being, you have to travel in mostly straight lines.”

“Wait, why?” Nic stood up, looking over Farlan’s shoulder at the open turbine and boxes.

“Since the turbine can’t slow itself down without this, the friction of the cables in their barrels and the non-stop forward momentum will create a lot of force, and sharply altering the direction of that course, taking into account the wind-resistance against the gear and your body, would essentially mangle you mid-air.”

“Don’t take it out, then,” Levi stated bluntly. “Seems like more harm than good.”

“Well, quite the contrary. You would need reach the same destination faster with the same amount of gas. Perfect for information gathering.”

“Nicolette could get in and out of any place faster than the rest of us,” Jan added.

“I can already do that.”

“We get it, you’re amazing, but seriously. This improvement would be beyond revolutionary…” Farlan trailed off, going back to tinkering. Nicolette sat back down on the couch next to Levi and the cleaned blades.

“So, I’ll even be faster than Levi?”

Levi looked over at her, the slightest amusement in his teasing glare. “Good luck with that.”


	21. Trees

The flame from a single candle lit up the main room, bouncing shadows off the walls and across the floor. Julian and Jan were asleep on the floor, using their arms as pillows. Farlan’s head rested on the same table he’d been working on, tools surrounding him like a halo.

Nicolette and Levi were both on the couch, Nicolette’s feet in his lap as her head leaned back on the armrest. Neither of them were asleep, though they both thought the other was as they absorbed the silence of the dark room. The window shutters were still open, letting the pitch black outside seep into the edges of Nic’s vision.

She turned her head to the side, looking out at all of the gear on the floor. A brief flash of metal blocked her gaze, her mind turning to static before she refocused on the world in front of her. Nicolette clenched her hands around the fabric of her shirt sleeves, the smell of blood circling around her nose.

She exhaled sharply, blowing the smell away.

Nic didn’t want to go to sleep with the knowledge of what waited for her in her subconscious, but neither did she want to sit in the dark silence with only her thoughts.

Nighttime was quiet. A dark cloak. A veil from visions of reality.

That veil draped itself over Nicolette’s mind, and it constricted until her visions of reality become so distorted that she craved for nothing but the artificial light of day.

Fake.

That’s what her life was. Nothing more than a dastardly stain on the existence of man, a tainted image of what the world was meant to be and just exactly where it went wrong. She was a misprint, a poor calculation, a child with no meaning or direction, just fumbling down the pathway she assumed was meant for her.

She didn’t deserve any of it. None of it. The good or the bad, none of it was meant for her. Nicolette closed her eyes and faced the ceiling, sighing heavily. She could feel the warmth from the candle by her feet on the table next to Levi. She could feel Levi’s arms draped over her shins. She could feel the heat from his body.

She didn’t deserve her family.

She didn’t deserve anything.

Biting her lip, Nic’s eyes opened once more. Tears pricked at the sides of her eyes as her mind become so overwhelmed that she couldn’t tell thoughts from imagination, and imagination from reality. Her chest felt so tight and heavy that she couldn’t decipher if her heart was beating or if she had stopped breathing.

She might as well have, for it felt as though the world was moving too quickly for her to keep up. Shadows continued to bounce around the room. She watched them with dull eyes.

Levi watched the same shadows move, his hands absentmindedly fiddling with the material of Nicolette’s skirt. The cloth flooded over his knees, only her feet poking out from the very end. He noticed the yellow callouses, the hardened skin from all her time walking barefoot.

He looked up to her face, but it was hidden in the darkness.

What had been done to provoke the punishment of humans?

Weakness.

Was that truly it?

Levi squinted into the black, cursing under his breath. One hand came up and ran through his hair, realizing it was getting almost too long to see. Another haircut soon enough.

“Levi?” her small voice broke the ear-piercing silence, finally releasing a pressure in his mind he didn’t know was there. In that moment, all he wanted to hear was ceaseless chatter to prevent him from thinking.

“Hm?”

“What’s a tree?”

Levi looked over, despite not being able to see her. “Eh?”

“A tree. What’s a tree?”

“Why’re you asking me?”

She shrugged to herself. “I read about one in one of Farlan’s books, but it didn’t have any pictures. Are they buildings?”

Levi thought back to a time when he’d seen a tree, and realized there weren’t any first-hand accounts he could call upon. “I know they’re on the surface.”

“I’d hope so, otherwise I might be blind.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at her, then jokingly jostled her feet for her sarcasm. She snickered.

“But what is it?”

He thought again, trying his hardest to come up with an image. “Sometimes birds sleep in them… You can climb them, and hide in them…”

“How do you hide in them?”

“I think it’s like a flower. It has a stem and petals, but it has more petals and they’re called… leaves?”

“Do they walk away?”

“Huh?”

“Do they leave?”

“No, it’s different. A leaf is part of a tree.”

“Leaf…” she sounded the word out. “How big are they?”

“Leaves?”

“Trees.”

“I think they can be a lot of different sizes.”

“Hm…” she murmured. “Do you think Farlan knows?”

“Maybe.”

They sat quietly for several minutes, the same questions repeating in their heads. Neither of them had seen a real tree, as they couldn’t grow underground. The most they’d ever seen were malnourished root vegetables and moss.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“I want to see trees.”

Levi stared at the shadows. “Me too.”

From the darkness, unbeknownst to the two, Jan listened in to their conversation. His eyes were open as he kept his gaze blankly ahead, lying on his stomach with the side of his face propped on his arm.

What was a tree?

Jan turned slightly to observe Julian’s sleeping face, wondering for a brief moment if leaves were the color of his eyes. They were too bright for moss, but that was all he’d had to compare.

He looked over at Farlan at the table, only shifting his eyes. Is the sky the same blue as Farlan’s eyes?

He finished on Nicolette and Levi. What were their eyes? Levi’s were dark and sharp, hers were warm and soft. The deepest shade of blue and the lightest hazel.

What were they on the surface?

What was he?

Jan was interrupted from his thoughts by a sharp rush of pain going up his right leg, pulsing in his knee. He clenched his teeth, biting on his lip to keep from gasping. Rolling onto his side, he tucked the knee into his chest and tried to control his breathing.

“Jan?” Nicolette spoke up, noticing the movement from the pristine stillness.

He didn’t reply, the throbbing pain of his knee capturing his focus.

Nic got up from the couch, slowly making her way to Jan’s huddled form and kneeling. “Jan? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

At this point, Julian had woken up, breathing heavily as if he were having a vivid dream… or nightmare. “What’s wrong?”

Nicolette could feel her heartbeat start to rise. “I don’t know, Jan won’t say anything!”

For Jan, it felt as if someone had taken a large chunk of stone and dropped it on the top of his knee. It felt frail, shattered, and weak while also feeling bent and unrelenting. He wanted to just cut it out altogether.

Julian got up, crawling a few steps over to Jan. “What’s up, Scamp?”

Jan didn’t say anything, shaking his head with his hands still on his knee.

Julian looked down at it.

Farlan groggily raised his head from the table, noticing Levi lighting the house lanterns with their candle and Nicolette with Julian hunched over Jan. He stood up immediately.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re kind of trying to figure that out!” Nic snapped at him. Her palms were starting to sweat. The scab above her knee felt hot.

“Jan,” Julian started, “your knee is bothering you?”

Jan nodded, blood slowly coming from the bite marks on his lower lip.

“Do you know why?”

Nicolette bobbed her head around, trying to find any external injuries. “Nothing looks wrong…”

Farlan walked over, kneeling shoulder to shoulder with Nicolette. “Jan, where in your knee does it hurt?”

Jan shook his head.

“What does that mean?” Nicolette asked, her eyes beginning to scrunch up.

“Julian, get him something other than his lip to bite on.”

Julian tore off part of his shirt. Farlan rolled his eyes. “Dramatic, but it works.”

“What’s happening to Jan?” Nic asked urgently.

“Not right now, Nic! Okay? Can you just go sit over there or something,” Farlan pointed at the couch, nearly prying Jan’s mouth open to put in the wadded fabric between his teeth.

Nicolette recoiled from his harsh tone and stood up promptly, the new light in the room temporarily messing with her vision. She sat back down on the couch and placed her palms face down on her knees, just watching.

Levi noticed a mild twitch of regret in Farlan’s face. He crossed his arms.

Farlan turned Jan onto his back. “Julian, hold down his arms.”

Julian turned a new shade of pale. “Farlan… what are you-“

“Hold down his arms.”

Jan whimpered, still nursing his knee with his hands at his chest. Levi took in Jan’s face. Baby cheeks, teary eyes, soft jawline. He was a child in pain.

What had been done to provoke the punishment of children?

Julian shook his head slowly. “No… you’re about to hurt him.”

“I’m trying to find the problem!”

“Don’t go thinking just because you know some fancy fucking words that you can go around using books as your excuse to do whatever the fuck you want!” Julian shouted. “I’m not helping you hurt him!”

“Well he’s already in pain now, what’re you gonna do about that, Julie!?”

Julian’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Farlan pressed his lips together tightly.

Nicolette’s breathing quickened. She watched the two back and forth, and occasionally glanced down at Jan. What happened to the silence?

“Watch it,” Julian nearly growled. Almost on reflex, Farlan bowed his head down and avoided eye-contact.

“You’re all children,” Levi muttered, walking forward to Jan. He bent down, wrapping an arm under his shoulders and under his good knee, gritting his teeth with effort to lift him. The grip was awkward, as Jan was not holding on at all and Levi had nothing sturdy to hold.

He moved Jan to the back bedroom, placing him on the bed. Nicolette had been following behind with the candle, lighting more lanterns.

“Jan, I need you to let us know if this is deadly.”

Jan thought for a second, his breaths rapid through his nose. He shook his head.

“Okay. Do you need water?”

He shook his head.

Nicolette sat down on the edge of the bed next to him and put a hand in his hair, stroking it softly. “What can we do?”

Tears dripped from Jan’s eyes as he shook his head again. Julian hung back in the doorframe, a mild scowl on his face. Farlan was still sitting on the living room floor.

Nicolette continued to rub his head, trying to find something to keep her occupied while feeling helpful. Jan nearly pressed against her hand, relishing in the comfort as his knee pulsated.

He’d known something had been wrong with it. It had been getting stiff on every day walks, he needed to stretch it more than normal. He just didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want to turn into the weak one. All he hoped was that it wasn’t permanent.

It’s not from the lack of sunlight, he told himself. I can still walk. I’m not crippled.

Julian walked out, sitting down on the couch several feet from Farlan. Farlan glanced over at him, then looked back down.

“I’m sorry,” he stated bluntly.

“Don’t call me Julie.” Julian’s rule with the nickname was basically anyone but Farlan could use it, because Farlan was the only one who truly knew and understood who’d been the first to call him that, and the first to use it to condescend him.

“You got it.”

They looked up at each other, the smiled tightly. It was their own little apology, no need for fanfare. They’d been through too much to keep grudges over simple things.


	22. Short Breaks in the Silence

The night moved on without them, not pausing time simply to aid the discovery of whatever problems currently tormented them. Jan still curled on the bed, Levi still standing beside it, Julian and Farlan on the floor outside the room. Nicolette sat beside the youngest boy and could not help but feel the smallest twinge of dread.

         At this point, Jan had fallen back asleep, but it was obvious that he was still in pain. His hands were loosely around his knee, and his lips were turned down ever so slightly that if a stranger saw they would assume it to be normal. Nicolette knew that it wasn’t his normal sarcastic, one-sided half smile, an expression so hard to describe yet so unique to him.

         Nic stopped moving her hand, which had been combing through Jan’s hair, and sighed. Levi, who was leaning on the wall by the door raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was about to do that would bring them to their next task.

         “This is dumb,” she stated bluntly. He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

         “That hasn’t changed.”

         “Why does everything have to be so…” Nic’s frustrated demeanor increased as she moved her hands around as if attempting to physically grasp the right word. “Bad?”

         Levi bit the inside of his lip and exhaled deeply through his nose. “That’s what this place was made for… To throw away the trash.”

         “Not what it was made for,” Nic corrected, almost sarcastically. “But it’s what this place is now. Originally it was supposed to protect people from their problems. Now all it is, is a stupid breeding ground for them.”

         “It’s always been that way here, Nicolette.” Levi walked over and sat beside her on the bed, staring down at Jan. “The weak die and the strong scrape their way by.”

         Nic gave him a scolding look, then glanced at the fragile boy sleeping. “He’s not weak, and he isn’t going to die, Levi. You can’t assume things like that.”

         “We have to assume the worst,” the words almost ripped themselves out of him, as if they were his default response to anything mildly horrible happening around him.

         “That’s not what you thought about me, was it?”

         Levi’s eyes widened in a sudden moment of unprepared panic.

         “You weren’t thinking ‘we have to assume the worst’ and tried to escape with Farlan without me, did you?”

         Nicolette knew the answer to this question, but what she didn’t know was how excruciatingly difficult it was for Levi to prevent the ‘that’s different’ from leaving his mouth.

         “No… I didn’t.” He almost sounded defeated, his stare becoming gentle as he really took in the youth of the damaged child, asleep on the bed.

         “He doesn’t deserve this…” Nicolette whispered, sounding angrier at the world than anything else. “In my head, I can justify this happening to me… to you, Farlan, Julian… but…” she didn’t finish, but her message was obviously clear.

         “The world doesn’t give you what you deserve,” Levi mumbled, using his hair to block out his eyes from the threat of the outside view. “We can’t expect it to.”

         “I know…”

         Silence. So much silence. The Underground was full of it. If no one talked to fill it, there would be an endless amount of ear-piercing, screeching, agonizing silence. Pure pain through the emptiness in the air would fill up ears and make them bleed with the longing of a single voice.

         Nicolette hated silence.

         “He needs a doctor.”

         “Not like there are any here who have figured shit out.”

         Nic rolled her eyes. “Well, what do you think the problem is?”

         Levi gave her an unimpressed look. “Lack of sunlight,” he said with a tone that almost pin-pointed the obvious truth in his diagnosis.

         Images of adults, children, elderly sitting on the street, their legs frail and boney, like you could snap them like a twig over your knee.

         Nicolette thought of that, all of which she’d seen, and thought to Jan, the embodiment of innocence. Nic snickered to herself at the thought. He was far from the embodiment of innocence, but the way his hair and eyes and face just… it just looked soft. He was just something soft stuck in a world of ragged edges and sharp ends.

         “You really think so?” she asked quietly, but even she knew so. She knew it was true. She knew that it would only spread and his leg would only get worse. Right now, it was only his right leg…

         Levi nodded plainly. Nicolette stood up and looked down at Jan, hugging herself and tucking her chin down to her chest. “I want him to be okay…”

         “I know.”

         “We can’t assume the worst immediately…”

         “I know…” Levi moved his gaze to Nic, and found himself staring as he had done days earlier. It was entirely innocent, the way she spoke, yet so entirely determined to prevent anything bad from penetrating her life in the form of stealing what she loved most. Her eyes were red, but not terribly puffy, and she was chewing so roughly on the inside of her cheek that he could see the skin being pulling from the outside. Dirt was caked beneath her nails and rested on her bare feet. Her clothes were worn in places and not in others, and sometimes they hung off of her in weird ways on certain angles, accentuating the lack of shape in her body.

         He looked away.

         She stayed where she was.

         And there they sat in the painful silence, that silence that you would kill if you could, wishing to hear a single voice telling them ‘it will all be okay.’


	23. Making Room in the Nest

What is the difference between right and wrong?

Nicolette pondered this question as she wrapped her ODM gear around herself, clasping belt buckles and adjusting straps with little to no certainty in regards to whether or not she was doing it correctly. She didn’t have the sword sheaths, and her blades had been distributed amongst the other sets, as Levi and Farlan suggested.

All that was left of her own gear were the gas canisters, attached to belts on her sides independently, and the main utility belt around her waist, which contained the barrels of grappling wire and the turbine on her lower back.

Once all was seemingly securely attached, Nicolette grabbed the two handles that fed into the barrels, controlling the trajectory of the grapples.

The metal held her reflection. It stared back at her.

Around her everything looked normal. Levi and Farlan were putting on their own gear and Julian was sitting in the back room with Jan. They were just existing. Scraping by, as the strong do.

Her reflection shamed her.

Nic knew nothing was normal. Not anymore. And it had become so consistent that nothing was normal that everything became normal, because when nothing is normal, then everything is… right?

Hazel eyes, blonde hair, white skin, round cheeks, a small nose, and round eyes. All of those were her, but looking at it… it felt abnormal. It wasn’t her. Nic felt as though she were looking at a mimic of herself, something pretending to be her but really not even close to herself at all.

The disgusting feeling that coated her skin taunted her, she knew she wasn’t herself.

Her hand began to shake and her reflection lost its trance.

“Nicolette?” Farlan called out. “Ready to head out?”

“Hm?” She glanced over, her arms dangling to her sides. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at her. “Your body isn’t fully recovered. Going out might worsen- “

“I said I’m good, Levi!”

Scraping by, scraping by.

The wounds tainting Nicolette’s skin were not, in fact, totally healed. Pink skin and scabs still clotted the wounds, and the miracle salve had to be applied to her back every now and then to prevent oozing from the remaining blisters.

“Bullshit, Nic. Just stay home this time,” Julian interrupted from the back room. He didn’t even look away from the bed. The tone in his voice was the seeming embodiment of exasperation. “They can’t afford to be babysitting you right now. Not everything is about you, okay?”

Dumbfounded. Nicolette looked dumbfounded. Did she think everything was about her? Did she act like that? She knew that in that back-room Jan was lying asleep in undoubted pain, and she knew that whatever medicine they could find would have some use for him. Would she only slow them down right now? Jan needed help as soon as possible.

“You’re right,” she said softly, setting down the handles on their little table and beginning to unbuckle the straps.  
Farlan’s mouth was hanging open, obvious agitation sketched into the lines on his face. As he was about to speak, namely at Julian, Levi grabbed his forearm and stared him into silence. Old habits die hard, and Farlan stayed quiet.

“We’ll see you when we get back,” Farlan smiled instead, waving a brief goodbye at Nic and then heading out the door.  
Levi followed him, stopping in the doorway and looking back at her through the hair covering his face. She looked back and raised an eyebrow, expecting some sort of lecture or vague message about the world being entirely and wholly unfair.

But he smirked. “Don’t sneak out after us again.”

Then he closed the door.

Nic rolled her eyes, the slightest tug pulling at her lips. She removed the rest of her gear then walked back to the bedroom, pulling up a short stool to sit beside Julian. He still only looked at the bed. Purple bags were under his eyes. His skin was papery, and parts of it was dry and cracking.

“Do you want me to watch him for a bit?” she offered, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“I’m sorry for being harsh.”

Nic sighed, crossing her arms over her stomach. “Julian, not n- “

“You just have to realize that not everything…” he paused, his mossy eyes beginning to water. “Not everything is about you. Not everything that happens is punishment for you, not everything bad that happens is against you. Not everyone’s thoughts revolve around you, they can’t.” A single tear dripped down his cheek and landed on the sheets beside Jan. “You have to do what’s best for others first, not yourself.”

“…” The fading browns and purples on Nicolette’s face seemed to turn brighter, less full of despair.

“Things are hard for everyone, and if you focus too long on the things that are hard for you, you’ll only drag down everyone else.”

She thought for a moment.

The painful awareness that she felt misplaced trickled into the back of her mind. Had she been doing that? Had she really been forcing everyone to focus on her? By calling herself weak did she just reinforce what everyone had already thought? That she needed constant protection?

He interrupted her thoughts by placing a hand on her knee, gently over one of the scabs. “Don’t get me wrong,” he turned to grin at her, “we’ll always care about you way more than we should down here.”

Nic sniffed, unaware that her nose had become runny in the first place. “I’m sorry,” she choked out in a soft whisper.

Jan stirred in bed, his eyes staying shut. Julian nodded, then ruffled her hair. “Do you mind sitting here for a bit?”

She shook her head, grabbing onto the edge of the sheets. “Not at all.”

He stood up. “Thanks, Nicky.”

Nicky?

“I’m going to run into town and do my daily eavesdropping. I’d hate for this situation to get us behind on the daily gossip,” he winked. And suddenly Julian’s somber mood had evaporated.

Nic chuckled to herself. “Be back soon.” 

“See you!”

Then he walked out, and closed the door behind him.

~~~~~~~

Nicolette, aged fourteen, sat at the table with one of Farlan’s books under her nose. Her eyes were obviously scrunched and confused, yet sheer willpower forced her to keep reading. Farlan and Julian stood side by side in the kitchen, cleaning their knives and wiping down the counters.

Nic groaned, her braid coming over her shoulder. “This book is dumb!”

Farlan came around the table knowingly, still wiping a blade with a mysteriously white rag. He held onto the steel through the towel and pointed to a word at the top of the page and translated, “luminescent.”

Her mouth gaped open. “That isn’t even a word! That is totally a made-up word.”

Julian laughed, throwing his towel over his shoulder. “Farley, remember when you tried to teach me to read?”

“You mean you don’t know how to either?” Nicolette looked up with wide eyes, almost excited. “Then why do I have to, Farlan!?”

He laughed and ruffled her hair, sitting down in the chair next to her. “Because you don’t want to end up like Julian, do you?”

“H-hey! Farlan!”

They all laughed and Nic closed the book, leaning back against the chair. “I give up. If I ever need to read something, I’ll just make you do it.” She slid the book across the table in front of Farlan.

“Nuh-uh, not so fast, Nicky.” He pushed the book back. “You’re learning to read this whole book.”

“Nicky?” she questioned with disbelief in her voice. “Where did that one come from?”

Julian snorted. “Suits you, Nicky.”

She scrunched her nose in distaste. “Ew, guys stop it, I like Nic, that’s the only nickname I want.”

Julian covered his mouth with his hand, turning red from holding in his laughter. “Nic-name.”

Nicolette grabbed the book, stood up, and launched it at Julian from across the room.

“What the shit, Nicky!” He held his shoulder, laughing his ass off. At this point, Nicolette was striding across the room, picking up speed. She launched herself at him, pulling at his chin from her position on his back.

“Stop calling me that!”

“Gosh, Nicky, settle down!”

Farlan smiled fondly as he watched the two, flinching ever so slightly when Nicolette pulled back far enough to make Julian fall backwards, subsequently crushing her against the floor.

“Ow…” she mumbled, letting go.

Julian scrambled off. “Are you okay?”

He was met with a punch to the chest.

“Ow, I guess so.”

The front door opened and Levi walked in. Behind him, a young boy around twelve held a knife by his side. His hair covered his eyes. It was sort of blonde, but kind of musty and dirty in the same way Nicolette’s was. He was shorter than Levi, but not by very much, probably a bit taller than her.

Farlan stood up and walked over, still holding his own weapon. “Levi, who’s this?”

He was met with cold, dark eyes. “He’s staying with us now.”

Nic raised an eyebrow. Julian got up and offered her a hand, which she took and raised herself off the ground. “What’s his name?” she asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Jan.”


	24. Hiding in Your Eyes

It smelled… green. There were flowing swirls and spirals of bright colors, twisting and intertwining with one another in the air. The sky was illuminating, making the world seem just a little lighter as the sun bounced from shadow to shadow, pushing out the darkness.

That green smell was cool, cold, almost brisk but still warm. At the same time, it was a thick smell, there was so much in the smell that it was an overwhelming green smell, it smelled so green and it was almost too hard to comprehend.

Nicolette stood barefoot in a green field, trees and flowers surrounding her. Her hair looked ten shades blonder, the dirt picked out of it and the knots ripped out. Her skin seemed scraped clean of all dust and mud, the brown that tarnished her light complexion erased.

Petals were scattered by her feet and flew on their own accord, almost like fairies. She felt a sense of warmth, and she could only assume it was due to the sun. Only on the sunniest of days could she catch the slightest glimpse of the sun’s rays in the underground, but it was nothing compared to being submerged in its nurturing radiance.

Wonder and love and amazement, every possible happy feeling Nic knew coursed through her like the current of a stream. Her fingertips itched, her toes tingled, and the center of her chest felt so tight she might burst, but for once, in a good way.

“Too good to be true, huh?” a voice interrupted the serenity, but the girl did not jump. She simply turned her head to the side, hazel eyes narrowed. Their green qualities were only accentuated by the nature around her, and the yellow reflecting the sun’s beams.

Beside her was someone familiar. Someone she hadn’t seen in years. Not since the day she first met Levi.

“Don’t suppose you’d know.” Nicolette’s own voice was more different than she’d ever heard, strong and melodic, almost entirely confident not hiding behind a layer of sarcasm or a wall of lies.

The newcomer chuckled and looked thoughtful, almost like she was biting her tongue, literally and metaphorically. “Suppose not.”

Strange dream… strange dream…

“Why are you here?” Nic asked, the flower petals rising to float around her in a tranquil torrent of color and smell. They smelled… blue.

“It’s your head, Lottie,” Marlene smirked with her chipped teeth. “Ask yourself.”

Even she looked different, the sun making the wrinkles on her face look softer and less sharp. Her skinny frame and jutting bones seemed healthier, oddly enough. It was like she’d put on some weight in the places she needed. Her hair was a curled brown mess that stuck out in a million different directions with so much volume that it appeared she gave up on managing it.

Nicolette gazed around her surface paradise. It was all in her head, wasn’t it? She would wake up… she was dreaming. This wasn’t real.

“I haven’t even seen you for years, not since I was eight. Why am I dreaming about you now?”

Marlene’s bare feet picked at the grass, dampened by a thin layer of dew. “If I could give you any answer that you didn’t already know, would this really just be a dream?”

Nic rolled her eyes, her round cheeks and button nose almost glowing. She was almost glowing. “Then are you my subconscious telling me to go find Marlene?”

‘Marlene’ shrugged, her cat-like stare turning ever so slightly to analyze Nicolette. “I wouldn’t be anywhere different than I was back then.”

“Nicolette?”

The voice rang out with a resounding sense of realness, and in that moment, Nicolette knew she would be torn from this world. As it spoke, the world itself rippled, like a raindrop falling into a lake. Nicolette sighed, turning back to Marlene only to see her already gone. Her body began feeling more wet and colder, like a thin sheer curtain were covering and restricting her.

“Nicolette?”

Her eyes cracked open. Bleak. It smelled gray. Definite gray. The air wasn’t clean, the ground was covered in constant dust that never went away, and dirt packed itself into every crack it could. Her skin felt coated in a permanent net of filth that was sewn into her skin. The sheets clenched in her hands were stiff. They’d never dried under the sun.

“Nicolette, are you okay?” Farlan’s voice. Farlan was knelt next to her in the chair beside Jan’s bed. “You awake?”

“Yeah, I’m awake.” She lifted her head, rolling her neck twice to get rid of the sore feeling. Jan’s eyes were open, watching the two of them with a bored look that hid his depression. It wasn’t a good cover. “Did you find anything?”

Levi walked in with a broom in hand and a rag bandana pulling his growing bangs back. “Believe it or not, medicine is difficult to find.”

Jan crossed his arms over his chest and looked down into his lap, subtly bending both knees and trying to move them the same way.

Nicolette’s eyes looked drained. “Nothing?” her voice cracked. Levi simply looked at her, then walked back to the kitchen.

Farlan had a hand over the back of his head, rubbing nervously. “At this rate we’d have to make a deal with smugglers to the surface, and with what we’ve been up to,” his head nodded towards the ODM gear, “I think the last thing we want is to slip up and let the Military Police locate us.”

“Not like they don’t already know who we are,” Jan’s tone was dull. So dull. Nicolette’s heart was almost too heavy to keep beating.

“How would they?” Her voice had fallen back to its normal sound. Not melodic. Still weightless, almost airy.

“If Andrew knew who you three were just on sight, then it wouldn’t be hard for the Military Police to know.”

“Except the twins spent more time down here than any MP every has,” Farlan pointed out, an eyebrow raised. “Besides, no one knows that we’re the ones that killed Brennan. If we did our jobs right, then no one should even know he’s dead.”

“Andrew will,” Nic stepped in. “He knows for sure, he would know everything his brother was doing.”

“Would he? There was an obvious power struggle- “

“The power struggle was based on Andrew’s dismissal of his obvious insanity, and it made him disdain his brother due to their similar mental state. He didn’t like being reminded of himself. But now they’re both psychopaths, so they’re happier than- “

A crash from the front door interrupted them. More like a bang. It rattled the wood and silenced the house.

Nicolette and Farlan stood up tall and paced into the main room, where Levi already held his knife in front of him. As the two men went to the door, Nic tip-toed around to the window, peering outside with practiced stealth to avoid being seen. No one was in the courtyard, and not enough people were on the steps outside to be an alarming group.

Nicolette turned back to them and shook her head. Levi and Farlan nodded to each other, then Farlan swung open the door and Levi stood armed and prepared.

No one was there. A stone was on the ground, a note tied to it. Levi scowled at it, snatching the rock from the ground and letting Farlan close the door. The three brought it to the back bedroom.

“What’s that?” Jan’s voice shook with a questioning tone, an undeniable amount of nerve in it. The three looked to each other uneasily, then Levi scanned the note himself. Nicolette watched him.

She watched his sharp jawline clench, his defined nose scrunch, and his deep, dark blue eyes squint in disbelief. She watched as he tore off the rag bandana and threw it to the ground, the anger in his eyes hiding his pain. It wasn’t a good cover.

Levi tossed the rock to Farlan then stormed out of the room, and Nicolette heard him sit down at one of the kitchen chairs. She didn’t want to know what the note said.

Farlan pursed his lips, his eyes already going left to right on the page. He nervously looked at Jan, then at Nic.  
“Would you like me to read it for you?” his voice was soft. Too soft. Way too soft. Way too soft. Something was wrong, really wrong.

Nicolette could feel tears behind her eyes prickling, almost stinging her. “What does it say?”

Jan looked petrified. Almost like he knew what he was about to read, even though his fear stemmed from the terrifying unknown.

Farlan blinked rapidly several times, sighed, then read.

“You should have killed us when you had the chance, Jan. Julian is here and will stay here until we get the maneuver gear. We know where you are. If you don’t come before tomorrow morning, we will burn you to the ground.” Julian’s jaw tightened, and his teeth ground together. “Love, Jordan, Hans, and Josephine.” With a rising level of fury Nicolette had seen very little of from Farlan, he gritted out, "P.S. Your money bought more than a good dinner." 

Jan was pale. He looked like he would keel over at any second.

Nic’s mouth was open, her jaw hanging. Stammering for words, she stumbled out, “I-it’s obviously a trick, a trap… They’re… they’re going to kill us…” She looked at Farlan for any kind of reassurance, salty tears glossing over. “Farlan, Farlan, we can’t leave him there, you know we can’t.”

He looked up from the ground, tears already on his cheeks. “Yeah… I know.”

Nicolette’s mouth was still slightly open, her chin quivering as she lifted a hand to cover it. “No… He was just going out to the market… He always does, he’s always fine!”

“We always go together,” Jan said quietly, his eyes locked on somewhere too far in the distance to be real. “Went… we always went…”

“He was probably distracted,” Farlan croaked out, forcing through the obvious weakness in him. “He’s got to be fine, they won’t hurt him until we get there so we can watch…”

Nic shook her head. “No, now it’s just Andrew. He knows. He definitely knows Brennan is dead now. He definitely knows, Farlan!” She began to sob. “Julian can’t go through this, no one else can go through this!”

Farlan held her shoulders and pulled her into his shoulder, where Nicolette grabbed onto his shirt. His own tears dripped off his chin and onto the top of her head. He looked over to Farlan and gave him the most defeated look.

“We should’ve killed them…” Childish. No, not childish. Child-like. He was a child. Jan was a child. No one in the underground got the luxury of being a child. No one. Never. Farlan gave his best apologetic look through his own regret.

Jan’s overpowered anyone’s in the room. The note was right, it was his fault. He should’ve convinced Julian that they shouldn’t leave them alive, not that time. Just one time. Just one slip up, and now Julian was in danger, more danger than he’d ever been in…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day after Jan arrived, the boy had yet to speak more than two words at a time. He was sitting at the table with his knife in front of him and hadn’t moved from that position since he woke up. Both of his hands were in his lap and his eyes never blinked. He just stared at it.

Nicolette, who was sitting on the couch, observed him curiously. Farlan and Levi were outside in the courtyard, holding sparring lessons for other rogue children of their area, those who needed help and couldn’t fend for themselves. It had been Nicolette’s idea.

“Staring is rude.”

She flinched, his voice breaking the silence and piercing the background noise. “Sorry, you were just…” Not knowing what her point was, she stopped talking.

“I’m not something to buy or sell, so quit looking at me like that.”

Nicolette raised an eyebrow, sitting up. “I didn’t say- “

In a fluid movement, he grabbed the knife and stood, pushing the chair across the wooden floor. It shrieked against the force.

“You four are just trying to scam me… You’re no better than anyone out there.”

As Nicolette’s eyes widened in fright, she cried out, “Julian!”

From the bedroom, a loud thump was heard and Julian, whose feet were tangled in sheets, darted his head around to find the source of distress.

Jan had frozen, his face still one of aggression.

“What in the name of fuckery is happening!?” He stepped out of the sheets and ran to Jan, grabbing his wrist with no trouble and squeezing. Jan opened his fist and the knife fell.

The younger boy stared up defiantly, not speaking a word.

Nicolette scurried forward and picked up the knife, holding it to her chest.

“We’re going to have a little chat, Jan.”

Then Julian took him outside.

Nicolette, Levi, and Farlan never heard what he had said, but never again did Jan point a knife at any of them.


	25. Remember His Words

Jan barely remembered the sound of his knife falling onto the wooden floor the day he was dragged by his wrist out of the house. He barely remembered what he felt- all he knew was that he’d been frustrated and angry. The thing was, what he remembered clearer than anything, was his conversation with Julian.

Julian had taken him to a shadowed corner at the top of the steps, hidden from Levi and Farlan who were in the courtyard training children. With a firm grip on Jan’s shoulders and a wild flare in his eyes, he asked, “What the hell was that?”

Jan had half a mind to stay quiet, but really, what did he have to hide anymore? “What the hell was what?”

For a moment, the flare in Julian’s green eyes turned dangerous. Jan didn’t doubt that these people really were dangerous, in fact, he knew it. Yet, he didn’t rephrase his answer.

“We don’t pull knives on family here.” His voice was low, menacing, a bit gravely. One of his hands left Jan’s shoulder and pinned him by his chest against the wall.

“She’s not my family. You’re not my family.” The defiance Jan spoke with oozed a feigned confidence that permeated the air around them. Julian fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“You’re more than lucky I was the one inside.” He pulled away his hands but used his body to block any escaping. “If Levi or Farlan saw you pull a knife on Nic, they’d skin you on the spot.”

“Oh yeah? Go get them then. We’ll see what they do.”

What Jan couldn’t see, therefore couldn’t remember, were the memories in Julian’s head. From all he’d ever known, Julian would say the right thing to do would be to hit some sense in the kid in front of him. Beat him blue and purple, only stop before he goes unconscious, or even after if he felt like it. Alrick’s fist in his face was hardly a foreign feeling, and even though it had been years it didn’t take much recollection to remember it.

But because he could, he didn’t. Instead, Julian sighed and kneeled down, now slightly below Jan’s height. “Jan…”

It occurred to Julian that he’d never heard someone speak to him in this way, so he wasn’t sure how to do it himself. He figured making it up would be easy enough, but now that the first word was out of his mouth he’d run out of things to say.

“Jan,” he repeated, “life is… really hard.” That elicited a scoff. “And everyone knows that, especially down here. Levi and Farlan know that, Nic knows that, I know that, and I’d bet some gold that you know it too. Maybe a little too well for your age, huh?”

Julian nudged Jan’s shoulder in a friendly way; he replied with an aggressively confused stare.

“But um… that’s really just, how it goes down here. Age doesn’t really matter when it comes to suffering because it happens to everybody. So… I guess my point is, if everyone is suffering, the best anyone can do it to try to lessen it somehow.”

“You’re telling me pulling a knife on some girl I don’t even know causes suffering?”

“I’m saying that we should live our lives thinking through the minds of others, not our own. What do you think would’ve happened if you’d gotten to her?”

No response.

“Would you have stabbed her? Cut her? Sliced open her stomach and dragged her guts out?”

A subtle twitch pulled at the side of Jan’s nose, and Julian locked in on it.

“Would you? I think you’d have stopped.”

“You don’t know me.” 

“I don’t. But I know that the idea of watching someone die in your hands doesn’t really appeal to you. At least,” the older boy leaned in, an accusatory look flooding through his gaze, “not anymore it doesn’t. You’ve seen it happen, and you don’t want to see it happen again.”

No response.

“Who was it, huh? Parents? Siblings? Best friend? Aunt, Uncle, the family dog?”

“I killed my father.”

The statement was abrupt, obviously more to it. Julian didn’t say a single word, hardly even breathed, waiting for him to continue.

“I didn’t want to… He was… selling children… girls… killing people…” Cracks in his voice began to seep through his façade, and Julian finally glimpsed at the child in front of him. The child. He was a child, as so many of them were. “I couldn’t watch anymore… My mother had been trying to keep me away from him, but,” tears fell down his cheeks, “but she… she died… and when he found me, he looked for me, and offered a house and food and a bed I couldn’t just… He looked for me…”

Big round eyes looked up from the ground at Julian, tears welled up inside and spilling out. They were both at a loss for words.

“Girls started asking me for help and I didn’t even know why, and then…” Jan shook his head. He shook it over and over.

“I put it together… I put everything together all at once and I stopped believing things he told me. I should've known better..."

“Sounds like a shitty guy.” Julian wanted to interject to maybe relieve some emotional burdens off of the kid’s back. “Hate saying anyone deserves to die, but Farlan and I knew a similar shit stain.”

“I know.”

A pause.

“You… know?”

“You know my father... Knew him."

It wasn’t a question, at least it didn’t sound like one. The shame in Jan’s voice was evident, more than evident, it was parading in the air as if it wanted to be seen, needed to be seen.

“Levi knew too. So did Farlan… So did Nicolette.” His chin began to quiver. “I didn’t even but the stupid pieces together, I was just… I was so happy someone was there to take care of me, someone wanted to take care of me… he looked for me…”

Julian’s face was stiff, frozen. Every muscle in his body was tensed as he looked with vicious intensity directly ahead of him. “Alrick was your father?”

Words couldn’t come out of his mouth, so Jan nodded. He nodded so harshly that tears flew to the ground, onto the dirt. “But I killed him… I made up for it… I fixed it…”

Julian had no idea what to say. In front of him was the son of the man he’d nearly been raised by, the man who’d beaten him, threatened him, brought him to the brink of death at least twice, at least, and he couldn’t bring himself to unleash any of the pent-up rage on his child. He just couldn’t.

It wasn’t his fault. Not his fault… It wasn’t his fault…

He's only a kid.

Julian’s eyes squeezed shut as he pinched his nose, standing up slowly. With a deep breath, everything opened back up. “Jan, he was never your family. He will never have been, nor ever has to be considered your family.” He snorted. “I mean, hell, I’m a giant compared to Nic, right? She and I look nothing alike. We don’t have the same mother, but I’d be damned if anyone tried to tell me she wasn’t my little sister.”

The back of Jan’s hand reached up to wipe his face.

“Jan, the four of us are family. We made our own family, and really it’s all we’ve got going for us down here.”  
Julian reached down a hand, a single, outstretched hand. Then, he smiled. “You’re welcome to join it.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jan stared down at his hands, remembering how he’d grabbed Julian’s and followed him back inside. He remembered apologizing to Nicolette, and how she’d just laughed about it, saying she knew being in a new place could be scary sometimes. She'd asked if he'd been crying and he said no, then she laughed some more and said it was okay to cry. Then the two of them taught him how to slice an apple around the core and how to take out the seeds the right way.

And now there she was, crying into Farlan’s chest like it was the end of the world. And maybe it was. The world to them was their family. That was all they had going for them. And now it was slowly being pulled apart, one string at a time.


	26. An Act of Kindness

Levi was past seething. He emanated a rage so violent that it threatened to tear apart the walls of the house. Pacing back and forth, he thought to himself different scenarios, different plans, in which he would kill whoever Jordan, Hans, and Josephine were, each scenario becoming more and more gruesome as his rage escalated.

Nicolette’s worried cries were more than enough to keep his anger fueled, yet it brought his pacing to a halt. He listened to her. He listened to Jan. More importantly, he heard Jan say, “We should’ve killed them.”

Then the conversation stopped. It was replaced by the lone sound of sobs, something Levi had heard just enough of. We should’ve killed them?

No… Oh shit.

Levi ground his teeth together. The two thugs Julian and Jan interrogated- they were the ones who wrote the note. Levi knew he shouldn’t have let Julian follow his stupid fucking code of letting people live. What kind of a code is that down here? Fuck!

The crying began to slow, and soon after, the sound of wood scraping on itself creaked in the bedroom. Farlan stepped out, red around his eyes and streaks staining his face.

“She’s asleep,” he said softly, crossing his arms lamely over his chest. “Jan’s just sort of out of it, right now.”

Levi nodded curtly, mimicking his action. “They’re going to want to come to get him back.”

“Are you going to let them?” Farlan sounded a bit shocked, surprised maybe. Not necessarily in a bad way.

Levi considered this. A hand came up to his chin, rubbing his cheeks every now and then, pinching at the skin. He knew that they would want to help, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop them if he tried. But still, neither of them were in any condition to go somewhere dangerous, mentally or physically. They couldn’t afford any kind of episode in a situation like this.

Would Jan hate him for the rest of his life if Levi forced him to stay home? Yes.

Would Nicolette? Yes.

“I think we have to,” he finally mumbled, barely opening his mouth to speak.

Farlan sighed, rolling his neck and chewing on his bottom lip. “Julian’s gotten himself into some shit, huh?”

“Well, if no one else is doing it, we always have to have someone in mortal danger,” Levi retorted with bitter sarcasm. His cynical humor was beginning to wear thin, leaving just the cynical part.

“You don’t think…” Farlan didn’t quite trail off, but he stopped himself. He gnawed on the pink skin of his lip some more, turning it raw. “You don’t think he’s already dead, do you?”

Levi looked up at his friend. His family. One of the constants of his life. “I don’t know. That’s my honest answer.”

Farlan nodded, a bit disappointed. It wasn’t like anything else was to be expected, but there is always hope in asking. “Dead or alive, we’ll get him back.”

“We’ll get him back.” Levi reached up a hand and patted Farlan’s shoulder, then walked over to the table and sat down, pulling out his knife and beginning his strategizing ritual: clean the blade, stare into it pensively, poke it into the table a few times, then repeat.

“Any ideas where to look?” Farlan sat down across from him, folding his hands on the rough wood.

“Their base, obviously.”

“You don’t think it’s a trap?”

“What do you mean?” Levi peered through his hair.

“If it were a trap, would they really keep Julian at their base if there was a chance we could escape with their leverage over us? They might have him in a totally different place, hoping we go to their base immediately where they’ll have an ambush.”

“If you’re suggesting we ransack every house in this damned hole- “

“Not every house.” Farlan’s pale blue eyes darted around as he thought, not quite focusing on a single spot. “We just have to think where it would be reasonable to check, just to check, before we head where they want us.”

A small sniffled interrupted, quiet and barely noticeable. They both turned their heads to see Nic standing in the doorway to the bedroom, leaning against the frame. “I know a place to look.” A sloppy hand wiped her nose. She walked into the room, almost stumbling into an empty chair between them. “The military police never go there, and the one’s that do would never admit it.”

Levi’s face scrunched knowingly. He hid behind his hair, like he used to. He imagined his stomach growling like it used to, his feet dusty, like they used to be. “He wouldn’t be there.”

“We don’t know until we look.” Nicolette’s voice was surprisingly firm and pressing, though nearly silent. “I’ll go check. No one will suspect me down there.”

Farlan glanced between the two, remembering the house he’d followed them to so he could apologize. “You mean the slums?”

“Everything here is a slum, Farley. We’re just upper-class slums.” Her foot nudged his leg under the table, and Levi snorted. Farlan chuckled. Nicolette smiled.

Then, before they knew it, the three were laughing in the face of despair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been so long. It was still too soon.

Nicolette stood outside of her own front door, just three streets down from where she needed to go. Before she realized, her fingers traced the wooden door, feeling the splinters and cracks, the decay and wear. She wanted to push in, to step inside, to sit on the bed she sat beside for days. She couldn’t.

Inside she could hear a baby crying. A baby. A mother’s voice, two women. A young boy. They spoke of bread and money, whether or not they would be able to eat tonight.

Nicolette couldn’t stop the quivering of her lip as her hand lingered on the door, not daring to pull away. Instead, she knocked.

A silence immediately ensued.

“Hello?” she called out, not lowering her limp fist.

“H-hello?” The young boy’s voice responded, immediately followed by urgent hushes from the two women. Cries still came from the baby, but beneath that Nic could hear footsteps padding to the door.

A creak. The door opened. The boy was around the age of ten, had dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair. Nic wondered if she dumped him in water if he would change color.

“Hi,” she crouched down, but at her normal height they were almost the same size. Her dusty white skirt pooled around her. “How are you today?” 

He stared up at her curiously, then looked over his shoulder at the two confused women shielding the baby. “Who’s asking?”

“My name’s Nicolette, but you can call me Nic if you’d like.” Nic smiled a toothy smile, and she saw the lips of the boy twitching back.

“Your face is really messed up.”

“Erin!” One of the women walked up behind him and smacked the back of his head. “What have we told you about manners!”

“But mama, no one uses manners around here!” Erin protested, forgetting the guest at the door.

“Oh, so you should be like everyone else, is that it?” With hands on her hips, and a warning scowl, the boy knew it was his turn to be quiet. He walked back to the other woman, who hushed the baby and spoke in a soft voice.

“I didn’t mean to intrude,” Nic stood up to look at the woman, though the height difference was still unnerving. She had red hair, dark and deep, with blue eyes and a faded complexion. “I just um… couldn’t help but overhear…” she rubbed the hem of her skirt between her fingertips. “I know how it feels to go hungry, and I’ve seen it happen a lot. Too much.”

The woman narrowed her eyes, suspicious. Her lips pursed, but she did not turn away.

“I just wanted to offer help.”

“Help?”

Nic reached into the waistband of her skirt, pulling out a small pouch. She opened it, held it in front of her, then turned her face away. “Take as much as you’d like. I won’t count.”

The woman scoffed, shocked, looking back at Erin and the other woman with the baby. “Go on, mama!”

“Erin!” the other woman scolded. “Ada, you shouldn’t.”

Nicolette could feel a hand enter the pouch then retreat. She waited a few seconds, then closed the pouch and put it back in her waistband. It hardly felt different.

“T-thank you…” Ada said. Gratitude and confusion were easily her primary emotions.

Nicolette nodded. “You’re welcome.” She then stood on her tip-toes, peering over to Erin. “Manners are very important! Listen to your mother.”

Erin crossed his arms and huffed. “I bet your face got messed up cause you were too busy being nice.”

“By the walls, Erin!” Ada stomped back, smacking Erin again and leaving the door open. “What are we supposed to do with you!?”

Nicolette smirked, stepping into the house she once called her home. “Actually,” her voice sent them into silence once more, “I got this in a brawl.” She leaned down, and not so subtlety whispered, “You should see the other guy.”

Erin raised an eyebrow, scanning Nic up and down. “Prove it.”

She tapped her chin, then pulled her shirt to the side to show the scab on her collar bone. “I got this one in a fistfight with a merchant.”  
“Fistfight!?” Erin gawked, hands twitching to touch it.

“Never bring just your fists to a fist fight.”

His eyes twinkled. Ada looked amused, but incredibly concerned.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t have gotten into any of these situations if I’d used my manners.”

Definitely a lie, but who’s to say?

Erin nodded.

“And sometimes, there are times when your manners are all out, but you should always, always, always use your manners, even when someone else is really, really rude.” Nic’s finger bobbed with her words, lecturing this boy who she’d known for a good five minutes at best.

“Who are you?” he asked in awe.

“Nicolette, I told you!” She smiled, then stood up. As she walked out, a hand gently rested on her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

Nicolette smiled, then turned around. “Anytime.”

The door shut behind her, and Nicolette could feel a hole in her chest become a little less empty. She skipped the rest of the way down the street, turning into the familiar dark alley where it all began.


	27. So ist es Immer

It’s nice to feel like someone relies on you. It’s nice to think that you mean something to someone else, that your life has a purpose. There’s a special quality about it that makes living worth a little more. Not just living for yourself but living for others.

But what if the others aren’t living anymore?

Julian stepped out of the house, leaving Nicolette by the bed and Jan resting in the tangled, dusty sheets. He put a physical barrier between them. Two people who relied on him. Two people that he knew he would disappoint.

His teeth grinded together, jaw clenched. He couldn’t save either of them. He didn’t even know Nicolette was in trouble until she came back tattered and worn. He didn’t notice the signs of Jan’s deterioration until it already caught up to him. He needed out of the house.

He didn’t go to the market. He went somewhere familiar, where he hadn’t been in a long time: an old part of the Underground that people didn’t visit as much as they used to, at least for the past eight years.

Alrick’s old hideout was desolate. No one seemed to want to be near it. A pile of dirt even rested in front of the door, forcing Julian to scuff it free before it could open. “Home, sweet home,” he mumbled, a bitter taste in his mouth. It was ransacked. The only thing that remained in the hall was the large table, chairs and all.

Visions betrayed Julian’s eyes, painting images of Nicolette and Levi eight years ago, sitting in those very chairs, Alrick at the head. Visions clawed their way into his mind, sounds accompanying them, carving the image of Farlan’s purple, beaten face covered with cuts and bruises.

He closed his eyes. His thick lashes tangled together, acting as a barred shield against the nightmares materializing in the cold room. He could still smell the dust in the air, feel the dankness in the palms of his hands.

In his chest, Julian could hear the swell of a song he once sang, and hadn’t sung for a while, but recalling the lyrics, he felt them in his heart.

“Chairs so close, a room so small,” he whispered with no tune or melody. He walked over to one of the chairs, rubbing a finger over the top. He remembered sitting here once. The name Julie echoed in his ears. He shuddered.

“You and I talk all the night long.” A hint of pitch crept its way into his voice, his throat humming in a way he barely recognized. He thought of Jan, the conversations they’d had together. He thought of Levi, Nicolette, Farlan, all of them. He thought of his family. All the life they’d lived together, the bonds they’d made and were likely to never break.

“Meager this space, but serves us all well… We comrades have stories to tell…” He trailed off, staring into the indentations of the dirty wooden table. The chords of his guitar played in his mind. He knew this song better than any marketplace, and no one else knew it like he did.  
“And it’s always like that in the evening time, we drink and we sing when the fighting is done.” Julian walked around the table heading to the only door out of the room. It opened with a crack, some wood chipping away.

“And it’s always so- we live under the burnt clouds.” The room was little and empty, two doors giving two options. He knew one was the hole he used to sleep in with the others, and he knew one led to the kitchen and the holding cells.

“Ease our burden,” the smooth cadence of his voice dropped into an alluring whisper, staring at the door that once held prisoners… which door was it? He didn’t know. “Long is the night…”

The final note held longer than it should have, but the song stayed a soft tune, one that gave a strange sense of hope yet oncoming despair for the life that one lives. Hope for something better, despair for what’s happening now. Maybe nothing will be better in the end.

Julian scoffed at the thought.

No… the world is much fickler than that.

He whistled the rest of the song half-heartedly, stepping back out into the main hall and lying down across the gigantic dining room table.

Facing the ceiling, it wasn’t long until his eyes began to close, eyelashes tangling together once more to protect him from what he might see.

 

Dust and smoke stars can’t be seen  
We all starve for a moonbeam on our town  
We must all gather as one  
Sing with hope and the fear will be gone…

~~~~~~~

 

The familiar dark alleyway was surprisingly comfortable to Nicolette. No one down here would trick her, they knew her. At least, they knew her look. The look of someone who’d been in the Underground long enough to see past a lie. At least they didn’t know it was just a look with little to it.

Her eyes darted around to little rocks she thought she remembered, and for a brief instant she could’ve sworn on her life that she saw a younger image of herself trotting with bouncing curls, looking for a pouch of coins.

She remembered making fun of Levi’s nose and saying he looked like an egg, which had elicited a laugh. A real life- genuine. Nicolette stopped in her tracks, trying to remember the last time she even saw Levi grin. Laughing was an entirely different story. A frown pulled down at the corners of her lips.

“You’re a little young to be down here, aren’t ya, doll?”

The words were so exact and the voice so familiar that Nicolette wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t having a hallucination. She turned around slowly, worried she might scare off the apparition.

Marlene stood before here, barely. If she looked bad eight years ago, talk about the years not being kind.

“Marlene?”

The woman smiled, teeth missing in the front and skin cracked and broken. She looked like a ruined doll, one that might have been pretty if she’d been taken care of. “You’ve grown a bit, Lottie. Didn’t think I’d see you again down here.”

“I had a dream that we were on the surface and that I should come visit you, but now I’m here because my friend was kidnapped and I’m trying to see if he might be here instead of where we think he is in case we fall into a trap intentionally set for us, but either way we’re going into the trap, we just need to know if it’s a fully-intentioned trap or a second-hand trap where they actually have the thing- well, person- we need but in addition we’ll be in the place they want us to be.”

Marlene looked stunned for a moment, Nicolette looked out of breath, and literally no one else cared at all about the two women standing alone in each other’s company.

“That was a lot of words I understood separately. Try going slower, my old ears can’t keep up with your crazy rambling.” She spoke older than she was. In reality, Marlene couldn’t be older than thirty-five. The years were truly unkind.

Nic nodded. “Just wanted to see you and scope out the area.”

“Now that I can comprehend. What I don’t understand is why you would want to see me of all people.” Marlene’s bony hand rested on her hip, leaning to one side as a thin eyebrow raised up. “Better not be lookin’ for a job, cause I won’t get ya one.”

Nicolette’s face turned a bright shade of red. “Oh! No! None of that. I’ve got a job. A pretty cool one. I don’t get paid a lot though. But I eat! And that’s neat.”

“Nice rhyme,” she commented jokingly.

Nic pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest, muttering a sarcastic, “Thanks, Marley.”

In that instant, the encounter changed.

Marlene’s hand dropped, her eyes turned to steel, the posture in her body became rigid, and the air between them became so toxic Nicolette was scared to breathe.

“What?”

“I… I just said… thanks, Marley?” Nic’s hazel eyes grew wide as her body caved in, making her small frame even smaller as she submitted to the obvious flames spitting out of Marlene’s body. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have used the nickname, it’s not very clever anyway, I didn’t know you didn’t like it.”

At that, a look of confusion came over her face, quickly morphing into relief. “So, you don’t know.”

“I don’t know… what?”

Marlene ignored her. “Nothing, nothing at all.” She changed the subject, letting the fire die down. “Why did you come to see me again?”

“A dream,” Nic mumbled. “I had a dream where we were in a grass field.”

“How do you know what grass looks like?” Marlene asked, half kidding.

The hazel eyes lit up, and Nicolette forgot the fear she felt seconds ago. “I don’t know! I read about it in one of Farlan’s books—"

“Who’s Farlan?”

“-and it said that it’s green and soft and it crushes under your foot, and that it grows in the ground and needs sunlight!”

“Well, I suppose that’s all there is to know about grass.”

Another memory flashed in Nicolette’s minds of words spoken the first time the two had meet. ‘You mean, you’re a surface citizen,’ she’d asked. To which the reply was, ‘I guess you could say that.’

She hesitated before speaking again. “What do you know about grass?”

“Well, it’s—” Marlene stopped herself. She squinted sharply. “What makes you think I know about grass.”

Nicolette smirked in a childish way, lips tight and sealed, triumphant in some way. A mischievous gleam sparkled in the dim yellow light of her skin, radiating her beaten body into something purer.

Marlene stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “Grass is green, you’re right. You’re right about all the other stuff too. It’s just about anywhere there isn’t stone.”

Just as Nic opened her mouth to excitedly ask for more, Marlene stiffened and tilted her head one way. Nic knew enough to know when it was time to be quiet. “Lottie, we gotta move. Now.”

She stammered for a moment but finished with a nod. Nicolette let herself be dragged by the frail woman behind a canvas tent then into another alley, then behind a door into a warm, cozy room. There were no other outlets and no other people, just the two of them in a candlelit room with furs on the floor.

“Is this your… workspace?” Nic asked awkwardly, hardly budging from the doorframe.

Marlene didn’t say a word, looking through a crack in the wooden door.

“Is everything okay?” Her hand bunched in the white fabric of her skirt, staining it with dusty handprints. “Marlene, are we safe?”

“I smelled something.”

“You… smelled something?”

She turned around at the disbelief in Nic’s voice. “Yes, Lottie. I smelled something. A more productive answer would be ‘What did you smell, Marlene?’ And I would’ve said ‘gunpowder. Not so common around these parts.’” She faced the door again. “Honestly, it’s a miracle you’ve survived so long with all the attitude you’ve got crumpled up in your tiny body.”

Gunpowder?

“Why…” Nic began hesitantly, facing the ground. “Why, um, would someone need gunpowder?”

“Great question. There aren’t canons down here, there aren’t explosives… as far as I know, anyway.” It was hard to make out an expression as her eye remained pressed to the door. “Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“A gun.”

“A gun?”

“Quit repeating what I say and making it question!” she snapped. “Yes, a gun! There are cheaper ways to kill someone, why would anyone need gunpowder…” Marlene seemed to be talking to herself, but Nicolette answered for her.

“Maybe they wanted an easier way to kill someone.”

Nic could tell Marlene rolled her eyes.

“Are you even supposed to smell gunpowder when it’s in a gun?” Nic asked. “From what I know, they’re pretty closed off, and they only smoke when you shoot them.”

“Sure, that’s how it works. There could be a stash down here if there are explosives, or maybe they loaded the damn thing wrong…”

“If there’s a stash, how’d you only notice it now?”

“There are lots of bad smells down here, hard to tell them apart when you’re moving around.”

Nicolette shrugged as if to leave it at that and end the conversation. “I should probably head home soon.”

“You don’t think the gunpowder has anything to do with your friend?”

“I thought you didn’t hear any of that?”

“I definitely heard it, but I only understood about six good words of it as a coherent thought.” Marlene stepped back from the door. “Really, you should think harder before words come out of your mouth before you say something that’ll get you in serious trouble.”

“I’ll remember that, thanks.” Nic walked past her, opening the door. She didn’t understand why they were hiding from gunpowder, but better safe than sorry. “Always a delight, Marlene.”

“Sure thing, doll. Visit me again before I die.”

~~~~~~~~

Levi’s head played tricks on him. Cruel tricks. He was dreaming. He was sitting in his old home, sitting on his mother’s lap. He could smell her hair, feel her skin. The fabric of her white dress was soft. Everything about her felt perfect to him, but now he knew she was far from it. He knew she wasn’t perfect, but he remembered the milky whiteness against the dark color of her eyes and the murky blackness of her hair. Her eyes were warm. His were cold.

He could hear her say his name, he could feel her hand on the back of his head, smoothing down his hair.

He could smell her body decaying, slowly, day by day.

He could see her eyes sinking back into her skull.

He could see her skin peeling away from her bones.

He could see worms trying to find her, trying to pick away the last meat they could find.

He could smell the stench of disease emanating.

He could almost taste the death in the room. It was bitter and sour, and it never went away.

The dream went black for him after that. All he could hear then were the words of Kenny. Don’t be weak, be strong, be the strongest, and once you’re better than everyone else, work to make sure that no one can ever catch up. He could feel stinging on his cheeks, aches in his stomach, and the soreness of muscles he once never knew existed.

Then, his eyes opened.

Cold, dark blue eyes were looking up at the ceiling. In the corner of his vision he saw Farlan mindlessly working over the ODM gear. Nicolette wasn’t back. Julian was still gone. All of it wasn’t a dream.

Levi sighed.

That was too much to ask for. Life isn’t a nightmare to be woken up from. It’s just life. It’s always like that.


	28. Human

The moment Nicolette stepped out of Marlene’s hole, she smelled it. The gunpowder. It was a bitter smell, metallic like blood yet stale and biting. It was strong, which could only mean it was close. There was no draft to blow her skirt, so the thin white fabric stuck to the thin layer of sweat forming on her legs, exposing the paleness of her skin.

A gun? Explosives? Who would use those?

Nicolette walked at a brisk pace, her eyes watching for something or someone with every step she took.

Marlene said it could belong to whoever took Julian… but how reliable was Marlene?

Nicolette was almost jogging when a stabbing pain shot up her leg. One of her wounds reopened. It made itself known from the reddish-brown stain spreading on the skirt’s white fabric.

White fabric was so hard to keep clean.

“Shit,” she swore under her breath, limping forward with gritted teeth. Her head continued to dart around. She wasn’t safe down here. She wasn’t safe anywhere- nowhere would ever be safe.

Then, she saw it. A flash of brown. Dirt didn’t move quickly. It definitely didn’t glint in the light. Nicolette froze. All she had was a knife and a bag of coins, both of which she knew could be used to remedy awful situations. She just didn’t know the best way to use them now.

“Nicolette…” a voice drawled out, a snake hissing in the shadows. “You’re far from home now, aren’t you?”

She stayed silent, staring at a single spot straight ahead. She wasn’t far from the main streets. If she ran hard enough-

The pain in her leg stopped the thought. It throbbed with each ounce of weight placed on it.

“It’s rude to not speak when spoken to, Nicolette…” The snake had moved. “Come on, Nicolette, won’t you say hello to an old friend?”

Nic’s breathing began to pick up, her chest rising and falling with an unsteady, rapid beat. Cool metal pressed against her hip, and that was all the reassurance she had that her knife was there. She didn’t dare move to grab it.

“I’m only going to ask one more time, Nicolette…” the hiss was behind her now, coming closer. Footsteps were barely audible on the dirt ground, but she could hear them. “What’re you doing down here?”

A lump formed in her throat as her lips parted to answer. She couldn’t speak. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. The salt was stinging, it tore away at her vision and made the world around her a hazy nightmare.

Then a hand was holding onto her hair. Then she was pulled backwards. Then she was sitting on the ground.

“Answer me!” Andrew looked down on her, a look of enraged insanity in his darkened eyes. Venom exuded from every fraction of his being as he stood over her, hands empty, clothes filthy.

“Looking for work.”

The answer came out before Nicolette knew she’d said it, but at that point she was focused on getting out. She needed out. Out. Out. Out. Out-

“Work?” He scoffed. “Down here? Levi would let you work in a place like this? Don’t think so.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, you little shit?”

Marlene?

“Who the hell are you?” Andrew appeared less than pleased.

Nic turned over her shoulder to see Marlene with two knives in each hand, both curved slightly near the top.

“I’m none of your business, but you’re my business because you’re messing with her.” She nodded her head towards me and took a step closer. “If you don’t back off her, I’ll show you a thing or two about working in a place like this.”

There was a tense silence. No one was on the street, visibly. Andrew’s eyes shifted between the two of us. He started to laugh. An evil laugh, one that was mocking and full of arrogant disbelief.

“And what’ll you show me? Huh? Will you fuck me to death?”

Nic could’ve sworn there were two knives in Marlene’s hand, but when she looked back to see her response, there was only one.

A cry of shock came from behind her, and she knew Andrew dodged the knife.

“Fucking bitch…”

“Nicolette, leave!” Marlene’s voice shifted from it’s usual deep tone into one of urgency, sounding more feminine than she’d ever heard. Almost delicate. Motherly. “Get out!”

Out. Out. Out.

Nic couldn’t make herself look at Andrew. She got onto her knees and stood up as quickly as she could in time to see Marlene throw her second knife. It made no noise but a soft, wet thud, almost like throwing a stick into mud. It connected with Andrew’s shoulder, but the blade lacked the force to stick. The knife slid out and clattered on the ground.

Nicolette’s eyes were frozen on that bloody knife. She wanted to grab it. Marlene and Andrew were glaring at one another, both aware of her presence yet unaware of her actions. She wanted to grab that knife then break every bone in his body starting from the toes, then cut off his ears as an act of mercy so he wouldn’t be able to hear himself scream.

She’d be merciful.

“Nicolette, get out of here, you – “

Crack!

It split the air itself, it split sound. It was loud, yes, very loud. It echoed for a moment. Everything still smelled like gunpowder.

Marlene’s chin fell to her chest. A small circle of red.

Nicolette couldn’t hear what Marlene said when she opened her mouth. Nic wasn’t even sure if she’d said anything. She could have just screamed. She could have just been trying to breathe. All Nicolette could hear was the pulsing of her blood in her veins and the high pitched, reeling ringing in her ears.

Marlene fell to her knees, then to the side. She didn’t move. Nicolette watched her fall. Her eyes didn’t leave Marlene’s body even when a hand grabbed her arm and started to pull her. She didn’t resist. She still felt the cold metal against her hip, but she was powerless. What could she do? She was just Nicolette. Weak. Small.

“You’re a really bad person, Andrew,” she whispered, tears leaving trails in the dirt on her cheeks.

He only laughed again, his grip tightening. He was rabid. He wasn’t a person at all. His clothes were a mess, and when Nic looked closer they were the same clothes she’d seen him in days before. The very same. Her blood stained them, who knows what else or who else did in the time since.

Andrew was panicked.

He was an animal in a corner.

He was a child without his brother, mother, or father. Nicolette saw that hunger in his eyes. The hunger every child in the Underground experienced. A hunger for more. Anything. Food, family, hope, but most of all, power.

“Andrew,” she said softly, finally looking a different way.

She didn’t know how he found her, and at this point she didn’t care. Her brain felt strangely empty, as if it were only feeding her one task at a time. One task at a time, and she wouldn’t be so hungry afterwards. She didn’t care about power. She almost didn’t care about food. All she wanted was her family. All she wanted was to go home.

“Life is very strange isn’t it?”

“Shut up.” An order. A weak one.

“How many people are behind us?” her voice raised in volume. “How many have guns?”

His palm slapped her across the face, and she would have fallen were it not for the hand holding onto her bicep. The snake leaned in to her ear and hissed, “Shut. Up.”

She shut up.

She wanted to go home. She wanted all of this to stop. Why was this even happening? What had caused this? She and Farlan raced down the tunnel, found a surface pig they wanted and now all this had happened…

Goes to show what the Surface does for people.

“Where’s Levi? Is he with you?” Andrew growled at her, squeezing her arm.

She shook her head no.

“What about the tall blonde one?”

She shook her head no.

“Then it’s just you?”

She nodded.

“What a small little group… it’s a miracle you three have lived this long.”

“I always say, it hurts to not be included in the head count.”

Julian.

So many unexpected interruptions, but Nicolette wasn’t one to complain.

Andrew rubbed his nose with his free hand. “Who the hell are you? Are you here to throw knives at me too?”

“Too?” Julian crossed his arms over his chest, his weight leaning to one side. The attractive curl to his brown hair seemed a bit flattened, deflated, but the vibrant cat-like green of his eyes still glowed in the dim lighting. “Nic, what did we say about playing with sharp objects?”

Nicolette barely mustered the courage to shrug. Marlene’s body flashed into her mind again. It was so quick. She was there, then she wasn’t. And now she was back there, left to rot. That’s how quickly people die.

Wait…

“Julian, get out of here!” Nic screamed, her voice breaking in ways it hadn’t broken. Her tears stopped. She began to jerk in Andrew’s arms and pull with all her might. “Julian, they have gunpowder! Get out! Now! Get Levi!”

Julian’s eyes widened. “Gunpowder?”

“Go!”

Crack!

There was an instant where Nicolette’s entire body crumpled downwards at the sound. She didn’t process why Julian was lying on his stomach. He was lying there. Her ears rung.

Tears were mere seconds from gushing down her face, but Julian stood up. He stood up and there was no little red circle on his chest. His eyes turned malicious. “Guns… don’t like them. You play dirty, fucker. You play really fucking dirty.” Julian’s voice came out in gasps, as if his adrenaline were the only thing fueling him.

Julian’s focus seemed divided. He was looking over Andrew’s head.

Sounds came from the main street not too far away. People. If they came down… no. They wouldn’t help.

“You’re not going to kill me?” Andrew asked, nose twitching. “Come on, give it your best shot.”

“Oh, I could kill you, I just don’t feel like it at the moment.” Julian’s nonchalant assertion nearly sent chills down Nicolette’s spine. Julian wasn’t behaving like his usual self. This was the side she’d hardly ever seen.

“Really? Why’s that, pretty boy?” Andrew smirked, shaking Nic in his grip. “All talk and no bite?”

“If you want me to bite you, we better come up with a safe word.” Julian’s eyes dropped to make eye contact with Nicolette. “I prefer duck.”

“Duck?” Andrew’s question came too late.

Nicolette already got as low as she could, and she was glad she did. His knife went directly over her head, spinning with a velocity so few people could replicate. A loud shout behind her gurgled into a desperate cry, and the image of a man choking on his own blood painted itself in Nicolette’s mind.

Red. She saw red.

Andrew’s grip slackened as he turned to gape at his dead pawn, and that was all she needed. Protesting against the jabbing pain that never seemed to go away, Nic tore her arm free, wrapped her hand around the hilt of her knife, and stared at the side of Andrew’s head.

She could do it. She could kill him. It was his fault anything happened. His fault.

Then Andrew’s face crumbled into one of despair. “Hans!”

And in his voice, Nicolette heard a cornered animal. A human.

He was human. So was she.

Her knuckles were white from the force of her grip, handing quaking and blade unsteady. Could she kill a human? No matter who it was?

Why did she have to make that choice?

Andrew fell to his knees, hands grabbing his hair, yanking it out clumps at a time. “No, no… No!” he began to mumble over and over.

Nicolette watched. She forgot for a moment what had just happened less than a minute before, how he’d tried to kill Julian. She forgot Marlene’s dead body. She forgot the feeling of his fingers pressed into open wounds.

Instead, she just remembered how it felt to pity someone.

It didn’t last long.

Nicolette remembered everything in a powerful wave of fury. The brief instance of panic when Julian’s body was on the ground. Marlene’s anti-climactic collapse. She had been trying to help. Nicolette felt every wound, every ounce of fear she’d felt in the basement.

That was enough.

It had only been seconds since Julian killed Hans, but to Nicolette it had felt like hours. With the slightest bit of mercy in her heart, Nicolette lunged with her knife.


	29. Intruder

On the street lined with stalls, many were idly minding their mundane tasks. Whether it be theft, trade, or sales, there was a fluidity to the motions of people so used to the daily happenings of the Underground.

Then the first gunshot broke the air.

It echoed off the walls, off the ceiling. Some dust even seemed to float and fall from the vibration.

A baby started to cry, but no one moved a muscle. An eerie silence blanketed the market, covering it with a veil of false conceptions.

“Likely execution…” a woman mumbled to herself, finally tending to her disturbed infant. “Military Police have been fucking themselves over lately with all the recent fighting.”

“Fighting?” Another man stepped up to the woman, teeth yellowed and nose hair overgrown. His chin jutted out into other people’s business, accompanied by ears that caught the quietest whispers. “They haven’t cared about that before.”

The woman seemed uncomfortable at his approach but continued speaking as the baby sucked on her thumb. “No, there’s something a lot crazier than normal. Remember that boy a few years back, the one who stopped Alrick from stealing those little girls?”

“What of him? All story, yeah?”

“Not all story! Not even a little!” The woman’s frail body leaned in closer to speak in a softer tone. “It’s all truth, and he’s got himself a group of folks answering to him whenever!”

He scoffed. “How come I haven’t heard of him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Probably because you’re too busy wasting away to- “

The second gunshot reverberated. The atmosphere changed. People began to face down and move quickly. Some looked panicked, heads darting side to side as if looking for a place to hide. Others moved with purpose, like they already knew where they needed to go.

“Listen,” the woman said with urgency. “It’s serious from what I’ve heard. My sister watched two men skin another one out in the slums, you hear? Right out in the street! And her friend’s sister saw two men running away with a girl bleeding her brains out a few days earlier! Something’s going on we don’t know about, so just stay away from it before the MP decide to shoot you too!”

“The MP?” A new voice entered the conversation. The street was empty, save for the newly founded trio. “They’re the ones shooting?”

It was a male voice, hiding behind a cape of green. It spoke boldly, having authority over the very city itself. At least, the city below ground.

The woman looked at the broad-shouldered figure. She moved her baby closer to her chest. “Not your business. I’ve got to get home now.” She turned away, but the new man quickly gained on her and pressed his hand onto her shoulder.

“Hey, Surface Pig,” the man with the chin butted in, “go fuck off to the sunlight and open skies. Like we’ll tell you anything so you can bring more of your kind down here to fuck with us. You gave us this shithole, might as well leave us alone with it!”

Hungry cries from the baby broke the silence. It was a tense silence underneath. One that was waiting for the inevitable, but what was the inevitable?

The cloaked face turned, and from the shadow were two pale blue eyes. They were light, yet immensely sharp. Piercing through the feebler man, the dominant figure tighter his grip on the woman’s shoulder. He chuckled once. Almost with scorn.

“Do you know who shot the gun?” He wasn’t asking as a conversation starter, that much was obvious. He sounded like someone who was in charge for no other reason than they were. No one gave them the power, they just one day took it and no one ever questioned it. Whether it was a façade or a terrifying truth, the two Underground Citizens were none the wiser.

“Sir, please, we really ought to get off the street.” She was scared, her eyes tracking the hand trapping her. The baby wriggled and wormed, trying to tear free from its mother’s grasp.

“Who shot the gun?” he repeated for the final time. His stare hadn’t left the weaker man, challenging him to speak out.

“We don’t know specifics,” the woman started, “I just know there’s been a bit of a fight lately between two groups, nothing unusual!” On the verge of blubbering panic, she began attempting to break free. “Please, I haven’t got any money, just let me go!”

Sensing its mothers distress, the baby began to cry louder.

The trap lifted, and the woman ran.

The two men stayed locked in contest for a moment longer, but the loser eventually skulked off, glancing over his shoulder to ensure he wasn’t being followed.

With no wind to move the cape, it hung limply on his shoulders, draping down to his ankles. Not his usual fashion by any means, and he’d likely switch the color as to fit in better over the next few days. But that was all the more exciting. A glint sharpened in his sword like eyes.

He’d get what he came for.

~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Jan hadn’t gotten out of bed. He didn’t want to, nor did he know if he physically could. Instead, he watched. He watched Levi keep himself busy cleaning, wiping away dust and non-existent cobwebs. He watched Farlan through the doorway mess with the maneuver gear just a bit more. Jan could tell from the increased fervency in his motions that Farlan was making good progress.

Jan watched. He didn’t speak, he didn’t move. He could hear the chair legs scrape on the wood as Farlan stood up, stretching his hands and his back. He could hear Farlan walking back towards him. He could see him stand in the doorway.

“How are you feeling?” His voice sounded calm. It was soft to hear.

“Fine,” Jan replied quietly.

“Need anything? A drink?” He looked side to side then leaned forward with a humorous wink. “Alcoholic drink, maybe?”

Jan didn’t say another word. His expression appeared unimpressed as he watched Farlan through his shaggy mess of hair.

“Jan? Come on, talk to me, kid.” Farlan sat down at the end of the bed. “That was a good one! Plus, I was being totally serious.”

“Farlan,” Levi pulled down the rag that covered his mouth- he insisted it kept him from breathing in dirt while he cleaned. “Leave him alone. He said he’s fine.” He continued to sweep in the corner, but he’d been in that corner for at least three minutes now.

Farlan proceeded to roll his eyes in a manner Nicolette would be proud of. It almost made Jan smile. Almost. When he stood up, the straw in the mattress stayed pressed under the absent weight, leaving an indent. Jan wiggled side to side.

He hated the smell of straw. He hated his bed. He hated his leg.

“Quit it,” Levi’s sharp bark broke him from his tunnel of loathing.

“Quit what?” he bit back. His hands were clasped onto the sheets. Julian always said the sheets were too soft for him, but that was the fattest load of bullshit Jan ever heard. Farlan said they were too short, Levi said they were too long. It was all so Nicolette wouldn’t feel bad about sleeping in the bed every night. The sheets were rough. The bed smelled bad.

“Quit being angry at everything. You’re being a teenager.” Levi’s deadpan was completely void of humor but judging from Farlan’s muffled snort from the main room, Jan guessed it was an attempt at a joke.

“It’s not like I’m mad about not getting my favorite scraps to eat, Levi,” Jan’s hands tightened. “Julian is missing. My leg… my whole body will be dysfunctional soon enough.”

Levi stared deeply into Jan’s eyes. The dark blue bore straight cold paths into Jan’s intentions, his thoughts, his feelings. He shivered.

“And what do you want to do about that?”

The question caught him off guard.

“What do I want to do?”

“The way I see it,” Levi continued to sweep, finally moving out of the damn corner, “You can keep complaining and moping and wasting time, doing absolutely nothing productive, or you can do something that makes other peoples lives easier and accomplishes something.”

Jan considered leaping from the bed to strangle Levi with his bare hands, then immediately decided against it. Instead, he watched.

Levi said nothing else, pulling up his rag and continuing his monotonous sweeping with the broom made out of straw.

Nighttime came quickly, drenching the city in inky black. Warm light from candles fought against the cold dampness of the air but did little against the manifesting despair within the household.

“She should be back by now…” Farlan mumbled, tapping his bruised and calloused hands on the table. “She should’ve been back hours ago.”

“I know,” Levi sharpened his knife absentmindedly, sitting on the other side of the table.

“Should we go out and look for her?” Farlan placed his palms flat on the table, ready to press up and shoot out the door as soon as he was given word.

“They know where we live… One of us with Jan isn’t safe. We don’t know how many people they could bring. They could even be watching us right now.”

The window’s shutters were closed, and the only light inside was a single candle. White, creamy wax dripped down its side slowly, measuring every second in the most anxiety inducing manner.

“Nic might not have even made it. What if they intercepted her on the way down?”

Levi frowned at the proposition. “Possible.”

Farlan blew out an exasperated puff of breath. The candle flame flickered. They sat listening to the sound of steel against whetstone as Levi sharpened his knife.

Wax dripped. Stone scratched. Steel whined. Repeat.

“How do you do it, Levi?” Farlan’s heel bounced. His light eyes absorbed the orange hue of the fire. He gazed into it, his mind wandering. “How can you act like you don’t care?” His voice pleaded, almost begged for any emotion. Anything.

Levi conceded.

“I do care.” The knife stopped, and he set it down on the table. His face turned up, and Farlan could see the shadows haunting him. “I care more than anything about all of you.”

Farlan took note of Levi’s shaking hands and the eerie steadiness of his voice.

“But I also know that…” Levi stopped. In one second, his eyebrows narrowed, his hand grabbed the hilt of his knife, and he blew out the candle.

Total darkness. The vulnerability that moment cradled was tossed aside, shattered on the floor into sharp fragments of volatility. Farlan finally heard what had caused the shift. Scuffling outside- footsteps.

Slow, but heavy. Definitely two people. For every one step, the second person took three. As the steps got louder, slight grunts came through.

“How can someone down here be so heavy?” a male whisper spoke with obvious exertion.

A female voice replied, “I don’t know, but I don’t think I can hold him much longer.”

“We’re almost there.”

Farlan could hear the feet make their way slowly up the steps.

“That’s weird… There’s no light inside.” The male voice sounded confused, and in that split second Farlan knew who it was.

“Usually they wait up until everyone’s home…” The female voice trailed off. “Do you think –“

The door swung open and the light from outside’s street lamps filled the doorway. Levi stood with his arms crossed, eyes glowering, knife tucked into his pants.

“Where the fuck have you two been!?” The annoyance on his face evaporated into shock when he caught sight of the ‘he’ being carried. Farlan stood up and walked into view.

Carried by his legs and arms like a pig for dinner was Andrew. Blood still dripped from his neck, and his eyes were still open with pain frozen within them forever. Julian smiled with a sheepish demeanor.

Nicolette, with a rifle strapped over her back, dropped the legs hastily with a wet thud to raise her hands in defense. “I can explain.”


	30. Story Time

After Nicolette lunged with her knife, it had been a fairly smooth process. The blade went in on one side of Andrew’s throat and came out the other. Sure, he choked for a minute or so, maybe less. Dead is dead. Julian’s knife was still stuck inside of the shooter’s chest, piercing just between his ribs on the left side.

“Impeccable aim,” Nic commented as she picked up the gun tentatively from the shooter’s cold, stiff hands.

“I do try.” Julian began to pull the body deeper back, covering it with dirt. “We should probably take Andrew back to the house.”

“And carry a bleeding body through the streets?” Nicolette slung the rifle on her back, getting the strap caught on her neck before it adjusted around her chest. “That’s not suspicious.”

“What, you think someone will stop us?”

“No, just being subtler is usually what Levi prefers.” Nicolette walked back over to Andrew’s corpse. His eyes were still frozen with stale grief. Her foot nudged his side. He didn’t move. She kicked harder. He didn’t move. Over and over, she began to kick his side, not stopping even when she began to hear a few cracks. Her planted leg still bled and her skirt still stuck to the wound, but she didn’t care.

She began to laugh. “Julian! We did it!” An inappropriate amount of glee illuminated her face.

Julian turned, abandoning Hans’ remains. “We did, didn’t we?” His voice seemed less than thrilled at the scene before him. His eyes looked back and forth between Nicolette’s bloodied leg and her foot which connected every second with Andrew’s lifeless body. It seemed to jostle and ripple every time she made contact. A trail of spit even seemed to leak out of his mouth, laced with blood.

He’d watched Nicolette kill someone. One of the things he and the others had tried so hard to prevent. She’d done it.  
Nicolette stopped after a while, her laughter dying into muted chuckles.

“You okay, Nic?” Julian grabbed his knife and approached slowly. “That was a big thing you just did.”

“What?” she asked innocently.

“You killed someone.” He didn’t think it would be wise to comment on the borderline insane display he’d just witnessed.

“You’ve done that before, so has everyone else. Hell, I watched you two both kill someone here. That’s one day, two killed people.”

“Yeah, but – “

“But what?” Nic hobbled on one leg, turning her whole body to face him. “Andrew deserved it. We know that. Brennan deserved it. Hans probably deserved it.” She sheathed her knife. “Everyone who dies down here either really deserves it or really doesn’t. There’s never a gray area.”

Julian’s lips pursed tightly. The street had gone silent, but the air was still alive with the smokie smell left from the rifle.

Nicolette seemed to pause for a moment, her face looking as though it were processing late information. “Aren’t you supposed to be kidnapped right now?”

“I am?” Julian stopped cleaning his knife. “Where’d you hear that?”

She groaned with intense exasperation. Spinning in a slow, exaggerated circle, Nic craned her neck to the ceiling. “They faked us out. By the walls, that was good.”

“Faked you out?”

“Jordan, Hans and Josephine. You know them? Jan said they were the people you let go a little while ago. They left a note on the door saying you were kidnapped and other stuff.”

Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Shit. We better head back fast then before they try to pull the same stunt again and get us out of the house.”

Nic snorted, her neck repositioned back to normal. “To do what? Shoot us?” She jostled the strap of the rifle across her chest. “We should be fine for now at least.”

There was a strange sense of detachment surrounding her voice, a brittle sound of apathy. It was unsettling.

“Nicky,” he started, instantly gaining her attention, “are you okay?”

“First of all, don’t call me Nicky. Second of all, I’m peachy.” Nicolette motioned down at the body. “Let’s take this back, like you said. I guess Levi and Farlan can take care of it like they did with Brennan.”

“Can you walk?” Julian asked with a raised brow as he bent down to wrap his arms under Andrew’s shoulders.

Nic didn’t respond verbally, shrugging in a way that suggested ‘We’ll find out.’ Her hands grabbed onto scrawny ankles, and the two began to make their way back to the house.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah, that’s what happened.”

The group of five sat either on or around Jan’s bed, listening to the finished story of the dead body on the floor.

Levi’s expression appeared dull. It glazed over, lost in thoughts he didn’t wish to voice out yet. No one pried, but it was obvious Farlan and Jan looked to him, expecting a reaction whether it be scolding, curious, proud. Nothing. His thumb pressed against his bottom lip as silence developed.

“This is… good, right?” Nicolette piped in quietly, the silence evolving into an intimidating factor of anxiety. Dust seemed to float in the air, making her nose twitch unbeknownst to her. “It’s good that he’s dead, isn’t it?”

“Well…” Farlan spoke slowly, not making eye-contact. He couldn’t bear to look at her. Seemingly, none of them could, but she didn’t seem to notice. “It is, I guess, in the short term.”

“Short term?”

“He’s dead, so he can’t hurt other people. That takes out the brothers, but now what about their followers?”

Nic scoffed, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. “Like they’ll try to attack the people that killed their leaders.”

Jan bit his lip. “It’s not like it was the easiest thing to do, Nicolette.” It was obvious he held back in volume and spite.

“Easy or not, Nicolette’s right, they’re both dead.” Julian’s palms slapped onto his knees for emphasis. “A weight off everyone’s shoulders. Would anyone, no matter how loyal, really want to mess with that?”

Farlan’s eyes narrowed. “Would you mess with someone if they killed Levi?”

Julian smirked, challenging. “Would you want to fuck with someone who was able to kill Levi?”

“Personally,” Nic raised her hand slightly to interject, “I wouldn’t.”

“Exactly,” Julian leaned backward.

“Guys, we have to figure out what our next step is,” Jan’s exasperation began to seep through as the stiff mattress managed to shift around with the moving weight. “We can’t just keep living life and dealing with things as they happen, we need to get a step ahead.”

“And what do you suggest?” Julian’s voice was sincere as he stared fondly upon the youngest of the five.

Jan hesitated for a moment, caught off-guard. “We could attack them. Proactive, not reactive, right?” He looked to Farlan for approval. “If we make a move towards them, we have the advantage. We gain control of the situation.”

“But do we?” Farlan chimed in, now scratching the side of his face absent-mindedly. “I agree with your decision to act first, but we have to be aware that we can’t control every situation we step into, even if we create the situation.”

“Why do we even need a full-scale situation?” Nic’s restlessness showed through her fidgeting fingers on the hem of her bloodied skirt. Nearly all of her clothes bore the same stains. “We could just go in and kill people.”

Farlan, Julian, and Jan’s focus whipped to her, all three sets of eyes piercing her own. She shrank into herself, shoulders hunching to hide her face.

“That’s not what we’re going to do.” Farlan was final, absolute in the manner, and Nicolette didn’t respond.

“Maybe- “

Julian was cut off by a long, worn out sigh. Levi’s hand dropped down to his lap. He stood up straighter, kicking off where his back had been leaning against the wall. It was quiet again as they all waited for an answer. A solution. A solution to a problem that was so complex it’d felt like it controlled their entire life.

Nicolette felt constricted by it. Claustrophobic. She’d gotten herself into the middle of something that she wanted out of, but she was stuck in it. She should’ve just never messed with the Surfacer. She should’ve let Levi kill them on the spot. He could’ve. She knew that.

“We have their contraband.” Levi drew the attention of anyone listening, a person with a plan. “No doubt someone will be looking for the missing ODM gear. If they trace it, it should be with them, not us. Anything we do with it goes back to them, not us.”

“So, what do you suggest?” Jan interrupted. “We wreak havoc on every person here in their name?”

“I suggest,” Levi shot a mildly annoyed look towards him, “we all become adept with it should the need arise to use it.”

“What would we even use it for?” Nicolette asked.

She went unanswered as Levi continued. “I get the feeling that Andrew knew what happened to his brother; it won’t be a mystery what happened to him. He seemed fairly caught up with killing us, so the rest of them must be as well. We either deal with the problem or let it kill itself, one may be more dangerous than the other in the short-term, but waiting leads to more problematic outcomes in the future.”

Julian blinked twice. “That answered nothing that we haven’t already spoken about.”

“The question we have to answer is,” Levi ignored Julian, “how much attention are we willing to bring to ourselves?”

“What, like announcing our heinous crimes and all that?” Jan blurted, generally ticked off by the repetitiveness of the situation.

“Whether you all know it or not, there have been witnesses to every outburst. People saw us get… taken,” he motioned towards Farlan and Nicolette with embarrassed reluctance. “They saw us carrying Nicolette’s body here, they saw us kill Brennan, they saw us bring a stack of crates here, they saw you carrying Andrew through the streets. We either own up to it, pass it off, or let people forget about it.”

“What does it matter which we do?” Nicolette’s timid question dissipated the serious tone Levi maintained.

“If we own up to it, the MPs will come after us relentlessly. Pass it off, they go after them, investigate, find little proof, and then we either rely on their laziness to execute them anyway or we’ll have an entirely different problem. Let people forget, we have a long time to wait.”

Nicolette thought back to a fond memory. A happy memory. Levi and Farlan had managed to find paint in the market. It was expensive, and they bought it. They didn’t steal it. They could have- she knew it. They’d bought it for her to use. She savored that paint because it made her feel like they were a real family, one that lived normally with a real house and real food and real light. She’d never finished using it, and the rest stayed beneath the bed.

It was so simple to her once. It was easy to be happy.

“We should- “

A large bang shook the door to the house as a large amount of force bashed into it. Julian and Farlan scrambled off the bed, both pulling a knife. Levi’s was somehow already in his hand, though Nic didn’t remember seeing it for the entire duration of their conversation.

The three men all looked to one another, nodded briskly, then walked silently to the door, only the balls of their feet rubbing against the unreliable floor’s surface. Nicolette’s wide eyes turned to Jan’s, whose face was overcome with curiosity.

Farlan’s back pressed against the door, hand on the knob. Julian stood on the other side, crouched low to be at knee level for someone of average height. Levi stood directly in front of the opening, knife held loosely in front of his chest.

The door banged again, in rhythm with the first. Five more seconds passed, and just as the third bang came, Farlan let the door open in.


End file.
